NEIL Harris has explained why he replaced Michael Obafemi with Tom Bradshaw at the break during Saturday’s 2-1 win at Southampton.
The Burnley loanee won the 44th minute penalty which led to Millwall’s winning goal from Zian Flemming after his shot was handled in the area by Jan Bednarek.
Obafemi missed the last two games after being struck down with a bug and the Lions boss admitted that had been a factor in his decision to make the half-time switch.
Harris said: “It was just about freshness. I thought Michael was excellent in the first half.
“He hasn’t played a lot of football and was ill last week.
“I just thought he was a little bit reactive at times.
“There is a lot more sharpness to come from him. He would love to have gone for another five or 10 minutes to get it in the legs but it was a really tight call between the two of them.”
The Den chief added: “We were leading at half-time 2-1.
“Michael has done his job for the team to get us in front at half-time. I wouldn’t have pushed him past 55 minutes because it would have been too risky, so I just thought go with a little bit more experience in Tom.
“I just thought we are going to spend so much time without the ball.
“Tom Bradshaw over the years has been one of the best defensive centre forwards in the division and you can play up to him as well, so that’s why we did that at half-time.”
It was a winning return on the south coast for Harris after last week’s managerial change saw him return to the club from Cambridge to replace Joe Edwards.
Asked what his first impressions of the current Millwall squad are, Harris replied: “They’ve got character, spirit and desire to play for this football club.
“They are in it together. When they need to, they can grind and dig it out.
“And the biggest thing of all is they care.”