SHAUN Hutchinson thinks Millwall’s two secret weapons could be key against Barnsley this weekend.
Fred Onyedinma and Tom Elliott may not be able to dislodge Steve Morison and Lee Gregory from the front two spots in the team, but both have provided crucial contributions off the bench recently.
It was Elliott’s equaliser at Leeds in January that turned the contest on its head again before Jed Wallace’s late winner, the Lions not looking back since as they have won every away game in the league.
Both forwards came off the bench last weekend against Brentford, and helped to relieve the pressure on their overworked defence as Millwall held on for a 1-0 win.
Elliott scored for the under-23s in their 1-1 draw with QPR at Loftus Road on Monday.
“The two of them have been a little bit unlucky lately because obviously we have been winning games and then it’s hard to change the team,” Hutchinson said.
“But both of them have been massive for us, their form off the bench all season has been great. It’s a great situation when you can bring those two on up top and they are a handful for defenders. We were under the cosh before they came on but they gave us an out ball and carried it well up the pitch.”
Hutchinson could start his 38th successive league game this season at Oakwell, after an injury-hit first campaign with the Lions.
He said: “The year before I had been sitting on the bench a lot for Fulham. After I joined Millwall I was doing a long journey into training so that was probably a bit too much for me.
“I worked a lot with the fitness coach and physios and managed to solve the problem around Christmas time 2016.
“Pre-season last summer I worked a lot with the fitness coach [Laurence Bloom]. He’s been great with me and, touch wood, it’s been going well so long may it continue.”
Image: Millwall FC
Read the full interview with Shaun Hutchinson in this week’s Southwark News where he talks about the play-offs and asks: ‘Why not Millwall?’