JED Wallace admits it doesn’t feel the same scoring at The Den without the home fans.
Wallace nodded in Millwall’s goal in front of the empty away stand in the Lions’ 1-1 draw against Brentford on Saturday.
He was asked after the game about the government’s decision to shelve plans for the return of supporters.
“Massive, massive. When you grow up as a kid you want to be a professional footballer and you don’t want to score a goal in an empty stadium, it’s not the same,” Wallace said.
“[Saturday] I should have been planting that header in the bottom corner and running off with 15, 16,000 Millwall fans in there and it’s a great atmosphere.
“It’s not the same, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that it’s ideal. It’s not. It is what it is so we’ve got to get used to it.
“The Derby game shocked us, it was probably the worst we played since the gaffer came in because it was such a new experience. I think we’re getting used to it now.
“But hopefully the sooner it can change and we can get the fans in the better. At the moment it’s about doing what my dad’s doing, sitting on the sofa with a beer. We’ll try to play as well as we can and the fans at home will be happy with our performance, hopefully.”
Wallace’s goal was his first with his head for Millwall and he joked his team-mates said it was a Tim Cahill-esque finish.
Wallace spoke to Lions boss Gary Rowett in the summer about how he could increase his goal threat.
Wallace said: “I need to have more chats with him, I’ll be going up to him Monday about scoring from the halfway line, I think!
“I was disappointed last season that I didn’t get a few more goals after starting really well. Naturally with more quality coming into the squad – the likes of Benno [Mason Bennett], I think Connor [Mahoney] is going to have a big season and Scotty [Malone] is also a very offensive full-back – sometimes I’ve got to wander into the box and hope things fall to me.
“I’m not going to sit here and pretend I anticipate scoring many headers this season. I just said downstairs I think I’ve played 300 games in my career and scored three headers, so one every 100 ain’t bad! I might score another one in three years. I’ve played 170-odd games for this club now so one in 170 is not a bad ratio.
“The lads were saying I was like a prime Timmy Cahill, but I don’t want to be putting words in their mouths!”
Image: Millwall FC