SCOTT Malone was thrilled Danny McNamara finally broke his goal duck for Millwall and said it was reward for all the youngster’s hard work.
McNamara, 23, scored two goals on his 50th Lions appearance in the 4-1 win over Barnsley at The Den last Saturday.
McNamara said he had been teased by the squad about when he was going to score.
Malone assisted the second with a deep cross to the back post that McNamara headed home.
“I’ve probably been ribbing him more than anyone about him not scoring, or shooting full-stop, actually!” Malone told NewsAtDen.
“I’ve been asking him when he was going to score and then he gets two in one game. I bet the odds were bloody massive on that.
“I thought I’d over-hit it, to be fair, and then I look up and Danny’s there at the back post with a header. I thought, ‘Jesus Chris – he’s only two foot!’
“But it was a brave header at the back stick, I’ve been in that position a lot and I know how daunting it is when the ball’s coming in.
“I’m really pleased for him, he works so hard at it. That’s the good thing about it, I’ve seen him work and work at it to try to score and get into high positions.
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“I’m really pleased he’s got his goal at last and hopefully that takes a little bit of pressure off him now.”
Millwall are at Preston North End on Good Friday. They have reduced the gap to the play-offs from 11 points in January to four points with five games left.
Malone added: “It’s been hard work. We won five in a row to climb back up the table after a not-too-good spell before that. Credit to everyone, really, for putting us in this situation that we’re in.
“Anyone below us would definitely snap our hand off to change places. It’s five left, it’s a good position.
“We didn’t think too much about not winning [against Barnsley]. We knew that we had six left and if you lose a game now it gets tougher.
“We’re of the mentality at the minute that every game really is a must-win. I think that going into the last five it’s going to help us.”
Millwall won last season’s corresponding fixture 2-0 with club captain Alex Pearce, player-coach Shaun Williams and under-23 manager Kevin Nugent in charge as Gary Rowett and his management team had to self-isolate after positive Covid-19 test results.
Pearce is known as a big character at the club and for being able to keep a straight face no matter what so that no one is quite sure if he’s serious or not.
“I don’t think I’ll ever experience that again, to be honest. Even the day before at dinner there was literally no staff there,” Malone said.
“We all know what he’s like, everyone was looking at each other and he was kind of like the first one to laugh.
“The whole thing was surreal.”
Image: Millwall FC
