JOE Edwards has defended his wing-back system in the wake of the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
The Lions manager switched to a back four at half-time during yesterday’s game as looked to find a route back into the match after first half goals by Ike Ugbo and Anthony Musaba.
The wing-back system that Edwards employs, that can probably be best characterised as a 3-4-2-1, has been the formation he has used the most since arriving at Millwall in November.
His first-choice left wing-back Joe Bryan has missed the last two games due to a retrospective ban he was given after the Coventry City game while regular right wing-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy came on at half-time yesterday having missed the Coventry and Ipswich Town games through injury.
Asked about the importance of both players to the system, the Millwall boss said: “We played well over Christmas and won two games over Christmas with Murray [Wallace] at left wing-back when Joe was coming back from injury.
“Obviously they’re important players. Brooke’s been out, comes back today and it’s great to have him on the pitch as I feel there’s been too many times in games over the Christmas period where teams are making subs and it kicks them on and I feel our bench has not been as strong as others.
“But it was nice to have the likes of [Aidomo] Emakhu, [Ryan] Longman and Brooke on the bench today but when they come on you can see Brooke’s rusty or not in rhythm like he was probably in December.
“So yeah they’re important players and someone like Joe Bryan is getting punished for his actions and it’s a loss to us, it’s as simple as that. But like all squads when Brooke’s out or Joe’s out, the players that fill in have to step up.
“And you can easily debate ‘is it wing-backs or full-backs, which is best?’ I know this team under me and before me has gone round this cycle where sometimes it goes well in a back five and when form dips, the solution is change to a back four. You can go round and round with that one all day.
“I believe as well after speaking to a lot of players, there’s a lot of defensive players in this squad and it’s probably a bit bottom-heavy. And to get the best out of some of those individuals and to get the individuals you want on the pitch, a back five with wing-backs is an effective system for the team.
“As I said, we had a good run over the Christmas period where we’ve won games, kept clean sheets and we also played some great football against Leicester and Boro with that system so I’m not going to get too dragged into that debate or that soul-searching just yet.”