‘Hugely symbolic’ – Gary Rowett on Millwall’s first Championship away win since March
BY ALEX GRACE
Gary Rowett claimed that Millwall’s victory at Bristol City was “hugely symbolic” for his side after they claimed their first away win of the season.
The Lions took the lead just before half-time thanks to Tom Bradshaw’s first goal of the season. They were pegged back after Shaun Hutchinson’s own goal, but Zian Flemming secured back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
It is also the first time they have taken all three points on the road since March.
“It’s hugely symbolic for us,” said Rowett.
“There was a little bit of a psychological block in some ways away from home, and the longer that continues, the more difficult that becomes and the more nervous you start to get in crucial times of games.
“The Rotherham game gave the players an extra bit of motivation to know that if we work hard enough – and have that desire and that energy to play with intensity, to play with defensive aggression, and to play with that forward quality as well – then we could go and get results. There’s no reason why we couldn’t do that, and we probably should’ve won that game.
“To come here, it was quite clear what we needed to do. I know Bristol are a side that won in midweek, so their tails were up. They were going to be confident, particularly after the way that they won.
“Other than the first seven or eight minutes in each half, we managed the game really, really well. That was important. First half we started to settle on the ball and started to control certain parts of the game. We didn’t really look like we were under huge pressure.”
As well as it being the first away win of the season, it was Bradshaw’s first goal of the season, a moment that Rowett hopes will be a starting point for the striker.
“We created some very good moments, had two or three set pieces that we probably should’ve scored from,” said Rowett. “I was a little disappointed that we weren’t 1-0 up before we scored but [for] Bradders, of course, it is a big moment for him.
“It typifies Bradders – sheer perseverance. He’s such a great lad, he works so hard for the team, and he gets his goal. He has an effort that’s blocked, he has to get up and react, and again that perseverance ends up breaking his duck this season. I’m sure he’ll go on and score many more.
“After that, I liked the way our team looked. I like the way we looked quite composed, we looked quite organised, we looked quite tough. I just wanted us to try and continue to play with a little bit more quality.”
