TONY Craig says he will have “no friends” on the Brentford side come kick-off in his testimonial at The Den this Saturday.
Craig played 127 times for the Bees in three seasons before joining Millwall for a fourth time last summer.
The Lions club captain still has a number of friends at the club, but, as is sometimes the case in testimonials, he won’t be playing a half for each side with manager Neil Harris is set to name close to his first-choice starting XI for the first-team’s final pre-season fixture.
“It’s a serious friendly. I played for both clubs but I’ll only be playing for Millwall,” Craig said. “I won’t be putting a Brentford kit on. There’ll be a lot of friendly faces there. Hopefully I’ll have some good support from Brentford coming down. I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to the fans as I left in the off-season, so it’ll be nice to say goodbye.
“I feel very privileged that Brentford have accepted to come down on my special day. As soon as there was an opportunity for this there was one club I was looking for.
“There’ll be a bit of banter flowing before the game but it will be nice to see (former team-mates). At the end of the day, it’s game day and you’ve no friends once you cross the white line. But it’s a game I’m really looking forward to.”
Meanwhile, Craig will pick the best Millwall side he has played with in Saturday’s match programme.
Former Millwall captain Alan Dunne named Craig on his all-time XI in his autobiography, and fans will get to see if Craig returns the favour this weekend.
“I’ll have a Millwall XI in the programme,” Craig said. “I’ve been very lucky to play with some very talented players, young and old. There are some players I’ve learned a lot more from than others. There have been some great people and some great friends I’ve made over my career.”
And though it is his testimonial, Craig has no intention of winding down his career.
“I’m still only 31, which in some cases is old, but I still feel young. I had my rest last season when I was out for six months through injury.”
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