Defender previews a foray into the Lions’ Den
If there’s an archetype of a ‘tough place to go’, it’s a visit to Millwall. We haven’t taken the points from our visits to the Den since 2014; so far this season, the Lions have won both of their home fixtures.
Sam Hutchinson is a seasoned campaigner… he knows what to expect when we head over to South London, and what’s required.
“First and foremost we have to win the battles!” said Hutch. “It’s always tough to go there; Millwall are good at what they do – they have good players and they’re a good Championship team. So it’ll be a hard match. Fingers crossed we can get the better of them.
“It’s a big thing to go away from home and winning games. We have to make our stadium a fortress – but when we go away from home, if we can be solid, then with the talent and flair we’ve got up top, we will always score goals.
“So as long as we’re solid and try to keep a clean sheet, we’ve always got a chance.
“The mood is really good. We’ve had a good couple of results, in particular the performance against Blackburn. And we dug in against Middlesbrough. So we’re all fighting fit, and ready to go.
“Especially against Blackburn, you saw a team that played really well. Middlesbrough was a different performance, but we still got the three points.
“We showed hard work, togetherness, and the boys were digging in. Good tactics, and we all listened to what we needed to do.”
The defender made a belated debut last time out against Middlesbrough; an injury picked up in our final pre-season outing caused him to miss the first few fixtures.
But now he’s back, ready to contribute, and he hopes that we can reward our travelling support on Saturday.
“After a good pre-season, I just wanted to repay everyone… then I woke up the next morning after Brighton and couldn’t walk. That’s not what I needed!” he continued.
“But it was good to be back on the pitch. I didn’t do a lot before it, so it was a bit of a risk, but I was more than happy to do it for the team.
“When you haven’t got many numbers, it’s easier to bond and blend. It’s early days still and we take each game as it goes, but at the moment it’s going well.
“In the last two games at home, our fans have been brilliant. It takes the players to energise the fans sometimes as well – that’s what we’ve done. Against Middlesbrough they really helped us in that last 20 minutes when we were digging in to get that clean sheet.
“I think they can see the effort that we’re putting in. Long may it continue.”