Millwall boss explains why time was right to bring Tim Cahill on against Cardiff City

By Richard Cawley

richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Tim Cahill made his competitive playing return for Millwall last night – with boss Neil Harris admitting he wanted the experienced Australian on the pitch as they went into the testing close stages of their 1-1 draw with Cardiff City.

The 38-year-old – back at The Den as a player for the first time since May 2004 – came on just before the end of normal time.

He charged down one attempted clearance by Cardiff captain Sean Morrison but did not get a sighting of goal in a cameo appearance.

Harris dismissed any notion that Cahill could only be a late, late change for the Lions.

He added: “If I thought Timmy could only play a minute he certainly wouldn’t be on my bench going into a game.

“Moro [Steve Morison] and Gregs [Lee Gregory] were excellent, a handful all evening. They ran the Cardiff backline ragged at times. Moro was unlucky not to score – he hit the bar. Greggers deserved his goal and could have had more.

“I just felt right at the end Cardiff were putting pressure on us and we just needed to manage the game a little bit. Timmy with his experience gives us that.”