Sheffield United vs Millwall

UTB 13
⊲ UTB: How happy were you to score
in front of the Kop to start Saturday’s
comeback victory over Stoke City?
⊲ LM: “It was a special moment for me
– my first goal in the Championship,
but it needs to be the start of a run of
games for me in this team. The way
we play, I’m confident I’ll score goals
because we create a lot of chances
but it’s also nice to get that first goal
of the season, especially having been
injured. We were more than on top
against Stoke, but when they scored,
we struggled for a while and the
manager had to look to his bench.
He made three positive changes
and David McGoldrick made a huge
impact, he started the move and
claimed the assist for my goal, then
grabbed the winner from Enda’s cross
minutes later. It’s easy to say it after,
but we deserved the win and it also
showed the strength we have in the
squad, that’s really encouraging.”
“IT FELT REALLY GOOD TO BE
BACK OUT ON THE PITCH WITH
THE LADS, MISSING OUT THROUGH
INJURY ISN’T NICE AND IT IS
VERY FRUSTRATING WHEN YOU
CAN’T INFLUENCE GAMES”
⊲ UTB: How pleased were you to
return to action against Bournemouth
just prior to the international break?
⊲ LM: “It felt really good to be back out
on the pitch with the lads, missing out
through injury isn’t nice and it is very
frustrating when you can’t influence
games. I’d not done a lot of full training
really, but the manager named four or
five attacking options on the bench
and I was pleased when he gave me
an opportunity to get back out there
late on and on another day, I could
have scored the equaliser. I made my
run because I expected John Egan
to win his header at the back post,
but unfortunately my header hit the
crossbar and bounced out, I probably
made too good a contact with the ball
from such close range.”
⊲ UTB: It must have been doubly
frustrating to damage your hamstring
in the season opener against
Birmingham City, especially having
impressed the new manager in what
was a disrupted pre-season?
⊲ LM: “Definitely. I felt really good in
pre-season, I worked extremely hard
during the summer, and I was more
determined than ever to make a good
impression following the permanent
change of manager and appointment
of Slaviša Jokanović. I’d got myself in
excellent shape and honestly thought
I’d start the season well having scored
a few times in the friendlies, but
unfortunately, I stretched for a ball
early into the second half and straight
away I knew I damaged my hamstring
and the scan confirmed I’d be missing
quite a few of the opening weeks of
the season.”
⊲ UTB: Tell us how much you have
enjoyed working under Slaviša
Jokanović and would it be fair to say
he has already willingly demonstrated
the faith he has in your ability?
⊲ LM: “The manager has been
fantastic with me since the day he
arrived at the club and now I want
to repay him with a lot of goals, to
help the team. In the chats we’ve
had between me, him and his staff,
I’ve been pleased to know they have
confidence in what I can bring to the
team and I’m desperate to not only
prove them right but also show the
supporters my best form, because last
season was frustrating not only for the
club, being relegated from the Premier
League, but also I didn’t really make a
contribution in just 13 appearances.”
SHEFFIELD UNITED vs MILLWALL