Running man! Millwall attacker sets new season’s best for running stats in victory at Bristol City

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson set a season’s best with his running stats in Millwall’s victory at Bristol City on Tuesday.

The Icelandic international covered 12.5 kilometres as he backed up Gary Rowett’s decision to start him at Ashton Gate.

“Jon’s first half was the highest intensity – metres per minute – that anyone has done in our team all season,” said Lions manager Rowett.

“Jed [Wallace] is normally between 11,000 to 12,000 metres and Jon Dadi was at around 12,500. It just shows the effort he put in.

“It showed the desire. It’s not all about the numbers, it’s about what you do in that physical performance. In terms of effort it was absolutely immense.

“Hopefully that’s a little glimpse of what he’s capable of in a Millwall shirt. I’m sure it’s not gone the way he wanted it to but he’s shown a lot of fight and desire. He got his rewards.”

Rowett went with a back four in midweek as Millwall took maximum points for the first time since late October.

But he highlighted Bodvarsson, Tom Bradshaw, Mason Bennett and Wallace as key men in making the tactics pay dividends.

“The front four, backed up by Willo [Shaun Williams] and Lenny [Ryan Leonard] gave us a foothold to go and press. We really limited Bristol to hardly anything, which was testament to our attitude and desire to bounce back from what we all felt was a little bit of an embarrassing performance at Middlesbrough.

“We did it from a slightly more compact shape, which helped.

“When you’ve got an extra player behind the ball you’re having to play your way out. You’re maybe having to be a bit more technical.

“Our away form has been fabulous with 5-2-3. But we’ve come to the end of a little run where maybe we needed to regain confidence.

“The best way of doing that was to get another player higher up the pitch and put a bit more energy and runners up there – we could close down a pass and gain confidence – rather than waiting in a deeper shape.

“We had started to look a little bit too static and easy to play against.”