Zian Flemming’s honesty – and desire to stay on his feet in the penalty box – fails to pay off at Middlesbrough

Zian Flemming has conceded his honesty worked against him in Millwall’s 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough last weekend.

The Dutch attacker zipped the ball past Paddy McNair at The Riverside and was inside the box when Ryan Giles attempted to knock him off balance. Instead Flemming used his strength to stay on his feet but his attempt to set up a shooting chance for George Honeyman was smothered.

“Even if I had fallen down then the situation wouldn’t have been a dive, because he really bumped into me and was really late,” Flemming told the South London Press.

“I just had my eyes on goal and I was through. At the time I didn’t realise the amount of contact that there was.

“I think it was a pen. He (the referee) should have given it even though I kept on running. When I look back I think ‘yeah, I should’ve gone down’. But it’s not in my nature to go down. I stayed up and felt I was in a good position.

“I saw that I could beat him and get to the ball first. Whenever I see the goal, at least me, I just go – go for the chance either for me or to pass it, I squared it off to G.

“In that moment I don’t really think about falling down. Maybe it would’ve been the best option. You don’t want to roll around the whole time. It’s not my style. I don’t really like to see when players do it.

“It’s a bit of a weird thing that if you get contact and you try and stay on your feet then you don’t get a foul, while if you embrace the contact and don’t try to stay up, then you will get a foul.”

Flemming leads the Lions’ scoring charts with 10 – all in the league. The South London outfit are looking to add to their firepower before the window closes after allowing Benik Afobe to join Dubai’s Hatta Club after his contract was mutually terminated.

Flemming is the club’s record transfer signing at £1.7million from Fortuna Sittard in the summer. And the former Ajax youngster knows that adding in the January window – particularly in the offensive areas – is tricky.

“We’re missing Benik now,” said Flemming. “He’s proven many times in this league that he is a great player, and he was great for us.

“But his career just goes in a different path now. We have to respect that, it’s normal.

“Everyone is at a different stage of their career.

“They (Millwall) need to try and get something back in return. I can imagine that is not easy. Especially if you want to replace Benik, who is a striker, for a striker then probably every team wants one.

“There are good players who are out there but the second thing is you need to bring them to your club. Normally the really good players are already playing or you need to pay a lot of money for them as a transfer fee, or whatever.

“To be fair that is all their (the club’s) problem. I can imagine it is hard – but I have all the confidence and faith in them that they will find someone they think is suitable for us and will help us for the rest of the season.”

Not that Flemming will be glued to social media or scouring the internet for the latest Lions’ transfer links.

The 24-year-old was the subject of plenty of speculation when he was impressing in his native Netherlands.

But asked how much he kept abreast of any reports before he arrived in the UK, he replied: “The things in the media don’t matter for me.

“It’s more about what you know that is true. That will be something that is on your mind, especially if you want to leave.

“I’ve never been refreshing my page to see if there is any news about me, because if there was I’d hear about it from my agent.

“I don’t ever read any stories. If there have been serious rumours (about signings this window) then you will hear it anyway – in the dressing room or via some people in your environment who do read the Millwall news.”

Flemming’s focus is on increasing his goal haul. The 2-0 win at Watford on Boxing Day took him on to double figures. Millwall have not lost when he has scored, winning five and drawing twice.

“I need to score more then,” is Flemming’s curt response after being made aware of that.

“It’s always difficult because you are happy at the amount of goals you have scored but also, at least with me, you give yourself, in a good way, extra pressure.

“I’m not just happy with what I’ve done – this has to be normal now. Instead of being happy with that you are eager to do even more, or at least the same.”

Now it is about bouncing back from Boro at Cardiff City tomorrow.

“It was our plan to go there and not give them much space,” said Flemming. “Let them get impatient and break away on the counter attacks. The options were there but that day we just weren’t good enough to utilise it and get a win.

“Unfortunately we conceded. They were more on the ball and had more initiative, so maybe if you try and see it neutrally then they deserved the win. It was a close game.

“You have to take it in perspective as well. There are some games you win and it is really tight and some games you are going to lose when winning feels really close.

“You have got to be really sharp and use every chance and space you get. Sometimes that just doesn’t happen.”