OLIVER Burke is in the pretty unique position of trying to deny his parent club a place in the play-offs – and he made a big contribution towards that last Saturday.
Of course both Millwall and Sheffield United could still make the top six, which would mean he and Luke Freeman – also on loan from the Blades – would not be part of the Lions’ challenge.
Burke got off the mark for Millwall when he scored the third in the 4-1 win over Barnsley as the hosts cut the gap to sixth-place Sheffield United – who drew at home against Bournemouth – to four points.
Does Burke have any banter back and forth with his team-mates at United?
“Not really,” Burke told NewsAtDen. “I’m on loan at Millwall and I look at it as I’m a Millwall player. I’m playing for Millwall, the manager believes in me here.
“You have to care more for the club you’re actually playing for. But obviously it’s interesting. It’s a bit of a scrap. I’m only on loan, I’m still a Sheffield United player but I guess it would be a weird position to be in if we [Millwall] make the play-offs.
“I don’t know how it would work. I’m not too sure.”
Millwall have only been this close to a shot at the top flight at this point of the season a handful of times in two decades.
The Lions know they can’t really afford many slip-ups. Burke explained how they are approaching the run-in.
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“We don’t really like to think we have so much pressure. We feel as a club already we’ve done so well,” Burke said.
“But when it gets tight like this with points and such an interesting season so far, you never say never in this league, you don’t know what result you can get. It’s a bit crazy.
“I don’t really follow [the other games] that much, not really. I usually tend to look at the table and see how we are doing, train hard and try to get results for us.
“Obviously everybody talks about it in the dressing room and how close we are, but focussing on the next task in hand is the best thing to do, really, and not dwelling on it too much because that’s when you create pressure on yourself, I think.
“That’s just what we’re like as a group [not talking about the play-offs publicly]. We know we get the best out of ourselves if we don’t really think too much about it. We just go out there and focus on the next game, winning the next game.
“Then you’re more relaxed, you’re not worried about what other games are coming up, what other teams are doing. That piles on other pressures that are not needed at that time.”
Millwall had just lost two league games in a row when Burke joined and were nine points off sixth. He made his debut as a substitute in the next game, a 1-0 defeat at Blackpool, which meant the Lions were 11 points off the play-offs.
Burke didn’t consider a top-six challenge as a factor when he was weighing up the move in January.
“To be honest, not really, it wasn’t really a topic spoken about,” Burke said. “Everybody knows Millwall as a club, it’s a very difficult club to play. You could see that when I played against Millwall, it was always a very, very difficult game to play in.
“I knew that we’d do very well with the squad that I saw before joining, players with real quality. A lot of people forget that we have a lot of quality within the team. There’s a real togetherness.
“I didn’t really think we’d be where we are in the table now, but it’s not really surprised me after seeing the training since coming in. It’s not a surprise to me now because I’ve seen the players and seen the standard. It’s really good and there is a great morale as well. With that you always have a really good chance.”
Jed Wallace said recently that Millwall maybe don’t get the credit they deserve for the quality of some of their football. Burke tends to agree, though isn’t overly bothered by outside perceptions.
“I don’t really look into what people think of Millwall as a club and stuff,” Burke said. “I’ve come here on loan and I’m just trying to get the games in and do my very best.
“But a lot of people would be shocked if they were to come down to the training ground and watch training, you see the games and the quality of the goals. I agree with that, we don’t really get the credit that we deserve.
“Some people just see Millwall as a rough, fighting team, but there is a lot of quality there on the pitch as well.
“Other teams will know that, but some people on the outside looking in won’t know that. They just see Millwall and think, ‘hooligan’, sometimes, don’t they?”
Burke’s goal against Barnsley was his first of the season.
He said: “It was an amazing feeling. It’s always nice to get on the scoresheet and then obviously in a win in front of the home crowd was a great feeling.
“I’m happy to be back in the team after a bit of a drag with my injury but these things happen, I guess.
“Because there is so much competition I think you have to make a bit of an impact now with all the boys that are fighting for a spot in the team.
“I’m very happy with it but I know there are lads breathing down each other’s necks to get in the starting team.
“It’s healthy competition as well, it’s good for us. I’m happy with the goal and for the team to get the win, which is the most important thing.”
Burke has mainly played as a winger in his career but Millwall have used him up front. Last weekend he started as part of a strike force with Benik Afobe.
As well as Burke getting his first goal, Afobe got into double-figures in the league for the first time in six seasons.
Burke is another Lions player who is a big Afobe fan.
“I’m very, very happy for him,” he said. “He’s really come on this season and you can see with his goals, everybody knows he can do it, it’s what he does.
“He’s enjoying his football and he’s really confident as well. He’s such a great lad, he helped me settle in really well.
“I don’t mind playing as a striker as well in a two. It all depends on who you’re playing, you can benefit playing as a striker sometimes or on the wing.
“It’s important to have flexibility in different positions.”
Image: Millwall FC
