MILLWALL boss Neil Harris explained that Tom Elliott’s form in training merited a starting spot – before the big striker scored at Bolton on Tuesday night to help propel the Lions into sixth in the Championship.
Elliott, 27, notched his sixth of the season by heading home a cross from Ben Marshall, who scored the clinching second after the break.
Elliott’s last start was at Hull City, also in place of Steve Morison, and his goal at The Macron Stadium was his first since the epic 4-3 win over Leeds in January.
“That was only my second change in 11 games and it’s been the same change, Moro out and Tom in,” Harris said. “I’ve got a group at the moment with everyone wanting to play.
“Everyone is right at it. Tom has looked good in training, scored a lot of goals on the training pitch. He looked ready. A lot of them looked ready but I went for Tom for this one.
“I was pleased I did because he scored a great header. He’s excellent in both boxes. When you play against a Phil Parkinson side you need to be aggressive and try to dominate both penalty areas because they are very good in those areas.
“Tom was really good in our six-yard box as well, he made some really good defensive headers.”
It was the first time in six league games Harris had got the better of a Phil Parkinson side in a regular league game.
“Last year they beat us twice,” Harris said. “They work hard, they play for their manager. We knew it was going to be a tough game. Playing against any team at this stage of the season is tough.
“As much as I thought we helped them in the first half hour with some strange decisions, they were very good. I thought we gave them a leg-up with a couple of our decisions on the ball in the middle of the pitch.
“We gave encouragement to their fans to get behind them. But once we got in front our management of the game was outstanding. The way we dealt with their threats was really pleasing.
“Second half I never felt that we were going to lose control, I thought we completely dominated.”
Image: Millwall FC