JOE Edwards wants Millwall to recapture their Christmas spirit and get results back on track.
The Lions produced their best spell of the campaign during the festive period as they went five unbeaten, kept four clean sheets in a row and registered three wins over seven days.
The run of games were also notable for producing memorable moments, such as a pulsating 1-0 victory over Norwich City on a Friday night at The Den and Shaun Hutchinson’s stoppage time winner away at Bristol City on New Year’s Day.
But since that trip to Ashton Gate, it’s four defeats in five for Edwards’ side. The losses have varied from arguably good performances against strong teams like Middlesbrough and Leicester City to a poor outing away at Queens Park Rangers.
The Lions boss said he is keen for Millwall to get their momentum back.
He told NewsAtDen: “We had a period where it did click for us with five unbeaten and four clean sheets. And from there it felt like we turned a corner. And even those first two defeats, against Leicester and Middlesbrough, they were still really good performances in many ways but they ended up being defeats. And since then we’ve not been able to pick up any continuity.
“But all we can do is exactly what we were doing in the build-up to the previous good run we had – just focus on us and be consistent in our work in training in terms of quality and intensity to give ourselves every chance.
“We’re waiting for it to turn but all we can do it just remain consistent in our work and hopefully we get to another period like we had around Christmas.”
Millwall’s most recent defeat saw them fall at the hands of Hull City, losing 1-0 at the MKM Stadium.
Edwards admits his side could have used the ball better but believes those types of performances can be a consequence of the style change he is implementing.
“We’ve been there a few times in recent weeks and, to be fair to the lads, I think it’s understandable,” he said. “When you’re a team that is having a style change, you will get games like the Leicester cup game and Middlesbrough home game where it looks really comfortable and it just felt like everything was coming off. And then you will get games where it’s not that easy and it’s then about the decision-making.
“And there’s been periods of games where our lads have been really good and a lot of our decisions have been right, and there’s been other periods where we do get stuck and we’ve got players at the top end of the pitch who we need to get the ball to but the lads at the bottom end of the pitch are still trying to be patient and build up from the back and sometimes you can get caught in between.
“And I think that’s perfectly normal. It even happens at the highest level with the Arsenals and the Liverpools who have this progressive style of play. We’re still really early in the transition of the playing style but we have to get there quite quickly now because we need to start picking up results.”
Last week saw Millwall sign 19-year-old winger Adam Mayor from Morecambe the day before the transfer window closed. He joins loanee Japhet Tanganga and Michael Obafemi as the Lions’ January recruits and Edwards is happy to now be able to look forward to the future.
Asked about the transfer window closing, he said: “I wouldn’t say it’s a distraction in a bad way but for all coaches, it’s an additional piece of the puzzle throughout January that does end up taking a lot more time than at different stages of the year.
“We’re in a position we want to improve upon so it is nice to have that focus of knowing who we are and what we are and how we get the best out of that on a week-by-week basis.”
