long delighted by lions’ shut-out Goalkeeper praises teammates after facing no shots on target at Reading

By Alex Jones sport@southwarknews.co.uk

MILLWALL’S 1-0 win against reading was hugely important to goalkeeper george long.

Following the Lions’ narrow victory against Stoke City just over two weeks ago, they conceded two goals to Luton Town and three goals to Norwich City, picking up one point in the process. Dropping out of the top six put added pressure onto their trip to the Select Car Leasing Stadium, where Gary Rowett’s men needed to bounce back to winning ways ahead of two league games at The Den, but it was equally as important to showcase their defensive resilience that has guided them into promotion contention ahead of the run-in.

They did what was required, as Andreas Voglsammer’s first-half penalty handed them all three points in a relatively one-sided affair, where Reading failed to muster a shot on target and managed an xG [expected goals ratio] of just 0.04.

“It’s been a bit of a theme,” Long said after the game.

“It’s similar to the Stoke game, going 1-0 up in the first half and then digging in for the second half. We’ve not performed incredibly well in terms of keeping the ball and showing bits of brilliance, but I think we’re just really hard to break down and we showed that today.

“Going away from home and not having a shot on your goal is brilliant. I think you’d be buzzing for them every week, wouldn’t you? It’s credit to the lads in front of me, they kept Andy Carroll so quiet.

“If they [Reading] did have a shot, it was from outside the box and didn’t let him hit the target. All credit to the boys in front.”

Long is right - that defensive resilience has been a key part of Millwall’s surge up the league table, having improved massively after a difficult run at the start of the season where they were struggling in the bottom half.

Grinding out narrow results has long since been an important part of how they approach games, and the 29-year-old thinks he knows why his teammates are so good at it.

“The big one is the mentality of the lads,” he revealed.

“When it’s the last 10 minutes and teams are throwing everything at us, everyone stands up to the test and no one shies away from it. Everyone is willing to put their head on the line and clear the box, sticking their foot in where it hurts sometimes.

“I think we’ve done that many times over the season. We’re just used to it now and sort of embrace it a little bit.

“Our home form has been excellent. I know we were beaten by Norwich, but on the whole, it’s been outstanding really.

“Going into two home games before a break gives us confidence and we’ll be going into both of them, looking to take maximum points.”

Voglsammer’s contribution over the weekend certainly cannot be ignored. Outside of his goal, he was a constant threat down the left, and it showed how unfortunate he has been to not score more than two goals for Millwall so far this season.

His penalty was exceptional, and Long has had to face them on a regular basis in training sessions, highlighting how hard it is to keep the German’s set pieces out of the back of the net.

“He’s class to be fair, free kicks or penalties,” he admitted.

“He gets so much power on them. Even though the keeper has gone the right way he’s still nowhere near it. I think he’s got great technique and he can smash a ball to be fair.”

“I’m going to have to start asking him which way he’s going and try and save it [in training]. It was a great penalty, and he took it well.”

At the back, Charlie Cresswell has played a crucial part for Millwall since stepping into the back four following Shaun Hutchinson’s injury. The centreback really struggled in the early stages of his time at The Den, but regular football has helped him to mature and gain vital experience at a high level. On Saturday afternoon, the 20-year-old came up against former Newcastle, West Ham and Liverpool man Andy Carroll, a veteran striker who broke the British transfer record with a £35 million move to Anfield back in 2011.

Long was impressed by Cresswell, who worked incredibly hard to win the physical battle against the 34-year-old, nullifying his threat throughout the 90 minutes.

“Cressy was outstanding today for a young lad who is coming up against an experienced pro like Andy Carroll - he dealt with him incredibly well,” the goalkeeper said.

“He’s won his fair share of headers and didn’t let Carroll get the best of him. That was a big part of what they wanted to do today.

“He’s a young lad learning his trade, and to do at Championship levels is credit to him. Like any young player, when you go out on loan, you’re going to make mistakes.

“You’re learning on the job, trying to get things right and figure out yourself how to play. Cressy has had his ups and downs this season, but he hasn’t let it get to him.

“He’s carried on working hard and getting more consistent with time, which is inevitable. The more games you play, the more consistent you become.

“Today was a great show of what he can do. He’s a really old-school young lad, if that makes sense. He just loves it and he loves a scrap. If you can do it against Andy Carroll then you should be alright.”

Despite the positives, Long has echoed the same message that his manager and his teammates have shared throughout the season. Millwall are living in the moment and taking each game as it comes, although they are loving life in the thick of the play-off race heading into the final weeks of the campaign.

Their good form gives them a lot of confidence going into a comparatively easy run-in, with most of their play-off rivals facing much harder finale. Long is adamant that the Lions won’t be taking that for granted, although they remain determined to achieve their goal of bridging the gap to the top six after numerous seasons of narrowly missing out.

“None of us are looking too far ahead,” he claimed.

“It’s an old cliche, isn’t it? You can’t plan ahead in football, you’ve literally got to take each game as it comes.

“You can’t take anything for granted, especially this late on in the season. You’ve got to really earn every victory and every point you get. It’s literally focus on the next one, try to get the win and move on.

“We’re always confident going up against anyone at home. We had a really tough run before coming here with Sheffield United, Burnley and Norwich. It’s been a tough period.

“We’ve taken some big points out of those games, so we’ll be confident going into those two games.”