IAN Holloway heaped praise on his Millwall side after they battled to a “deserved” 1-0 victory over Birmingham City.
The Lions boss had demanded a positive reaction from his players after Saturday’s defeat to ten-man Huddersfield and he certainly got one at St Andrew’s.
Holloway’s troops were full value for their victory, which was secured in the 51st minute when Alan Dunne nodded in a rebound after his initial effort was saved.
Millwall had not won at the Blues since 1968 but they produced a resilient defensive performance in the closing stages to secure the three points.
“We felt that was a deserved win,” said Holloway.
“We had to ride a couple of scary things – like our record here and when they hit the bar – but on the whole I was really pleased.
“We responded brilliantly to the awful things that happened to us on the weekend, which we didn’t really deserve, and we’re a new group that’s still learning.
“We came up against a really good side tonight and I don’t think they played poorly, we just didn’t allow them to play and we played well.
“We had a slightly different arrangement and Birmingham haven’t seen us do what we did to them with the team that I selected.
“We just pipped them on the night and I’m delighted with that. Now we’ve got to go to Leeds on Saturday and see if we can get on a run.
“That means clean sheets, a few decisions to go our way, a bit of luck and someone who can finish – because it won’t be Dunney every week!
“It’s very rare for him to score but he told me ‘it’s your fault gaffer because you’ve got to get me up for set pieces all the time’!
“It’s a really happy dressing room tonight.
“Now we have to win at home soon because it’s pretty heart-breaking for our fans – but the ones who come away are quite enjoying it.
“Hopefully we can keep playing as we did tonight, gain some confidence and do that at home because it wouldn’t half help.
“Our fans deserve to see the team play like they did tonight.”