KEVIN Nugent said maturity and his players taking on responsibility themselves were key to his side reaching the Professional Development League national play-off final.
Millwall came from 3-1 down to defeat Hull City 4-3 after extra-time in last week’s semi-final.
The young Lions take on northern section winners Sheffield United in this evening’s decider at The Den.
“One of the big successes this season is probably seeing all the players mature,” Nugent told NewsAtDen after last week’s win. “Some of them have come in as scholars, as first-year pros, but you can see them maturing, listening, learning and making their own decisions as well.
“Even at half-time – it’s one of the first times I’ve ever seen it in under-21s football – they didn’t have a big argument but they were debating things with each other during the break.
“It was really nice to see because they were angry that they weren’t playing as well as they wanted to be. That’s the maturity that I’ve seen.
“You’ll see a lot of coaches that say they don’t see it anymore, but [Monday] we’ve certainly seen a real fire in their bellies. They didn’t criticise each other but they made sure that everyone was up for the second half.”
Millwall will face a Blades side that thrashed Bristol City 4-0 in their semi-final after winning the northern section of the division by 18 points.
Nugent knows that his side will be in for a tough test as the two best teams in the Professional Development League clash, but he is keen to stress that he is proud of his side for what they have achieved this season regardless of whether or not they win in the final.
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“Sheffield United have run away with their league as well, so they’re a very good side,” Nugent said.
“In their team against Bristol City, they picked quite a few lads that they’ve brought back from loan at good clubs, so that’ll be a really tough game.
“We obviously go in to win it, but my main thing really was that we won the southern section of the league and that we did ourselves justice [Monday].
“I didn’t think we really did that in the first half, but in the second half and overall, we managed to do ourselves justice. That’ll be the same again next week. Go out there and embrace another challenge.”
The game kicks off at 7pm on Monday evening. Tickets are available through Millwall’s website.
Image: Millwall FC
