GARY Taylor-Fletcher is confident that Millwall will stay up and says he can play a big part in keeping the Lions in the Championship.
Taylor-Fletcher was one of few bright sparks for the Lions in Tuesday’s dismal 3-1 home defeat by Sheffield Wednesday, a result that leaves them firmly in the relegation mire.
The veteran forward, who last week joined Millwall on loan until the end of the season from Leicester, saw an effort cleared off the line in the first half.
That near-miss was one of four chances the Lions failed to convert before Lewis McGugan opened the scoring for the Owls – a goal Taylor-Fletcher described as a “sucker punch”.
But the 33-year-old was encouraged by his personal performance and believes he can make an important contribution to the club’s survival bid.
“I think I showed in the first half what I can do,” said Taylor-Fletcher.
“I like to link-up play and I’m disappointed I didn’t score because I was in the right place to get on the end of chances.
“It’s only a matter of time before one of those goes in. That’s what I’ll bring to the team – I’ll score goals, create chances and link-up play.
“The manager likes that I’m experienced but I’ve still got desire and I still want to play. Some people say ‘oh, he’s 33’ but that doesn’t matter – I’m hungry and I want to play.
“Everyone has to adapt and develop as they get older but on Tuesday I showed that I’m not afraid to run in behind defences.
“I might not quite have the legs that I used to have but I’ve still got the first few yards and a brain that other people haven’t got.
“I’ve played at every level and I’m not afraid to say what I think in the dressing room either.
“I had a bit of a say on Tuesday and that’s one of the reasons why the manager brought me in, because he knows I’ll be honest.
“I know what he wants. I was surprised by how good and how fresh I felt on Tuesday. I was glad to get 90 minutes under my belt.”
Millwall imploded after falling behind and the visitors raced into a 3-0 lead before Diego Fabbrini’s late consolation.
“We needed to get ourselves composed and go again after their first goal,” Taylor-Fletcher added. “But we just seemed to lose all momentum.
“We stopped playing like we were and that gave them a way of seeing the game out. It deflated everyone – the players and the fans – and all of our positivity was gone.
“When you concede a goal you have to stay in the game but we didn’t do that. If you keep it at 1-0 you have a chance of scoring an equaliser so conceding the second was a real blow.
“But if we score the first goal in one of our other games we’ll put three or four past someone.
“I think we will be alright come the end of the season.”