DANNY MCNAMARA’S positional switches has helped him to realise how adaptable he has become.
The 25-year-old has been required to fill in across the back line since the turn of the year due to persistent injuries afflicting Millwall’s defence.
Having occupied the right-back berth for most of his Lions career, McNamara was briefly called upon to fill in at centre-back under former boss Joe Edwards and has now been excelling at left-back under Neil Harris.
The defender told NewsAtDen: “As a young lad, I’ve always played in different positions. I’ve played at centre-mid, right-back, left-back, so I’ve always been able to do it.
“But I hadn’t done it in the Championship yet. So to do it in the Championship has made me realise that I can play in different positions and, if need be, I’ll put in a performance.”
The mood around Millwall is more relaxed this week after back-to-back home wins undid the damage that had been caused by consecutive away defeats at struggling Rotherham United and Huddersfield Town.
It’s four wins in five home games under Harris and McNamara is enjoying watching The Den become a fortress again.
He said: “I’ve been a Millwall fan all my life and I think a lot of Millwall fans can agree that we’re always good against the top teams and not so good against the bottom teams.
“Playing against Leicester and being the underdogs suits us down to the ground and we caused a huge upset on that day and against Cardiff as well we turned up and turned them over.
“I think Chopper coming in has given us that belief and confidence to believe in ourselves at [The Den]. He’s got the fans back on track and the lads know we’ve got a manager on the sidelines who is backing us. We’re back to Millwall ways and putting in top, top, performances.”
There are just three games left of the season starting with Sunderland today and this goes down as the most topsy-turvy campaign McNamara has been involved with in since making his Lions debut in January 2021.
But the Irishman believes that the return of club legend Harris means that there could be brighter days ahead for the Lions next season.
He said: “I think this season has been a bit of an eye-opener. We’ve been a bit unfortunate.
“But next season we’ll go again and we’ll be stronger, fitter and better. We’ll have Chopper here and that’s going to stabilise everything for us here as well. We’re excited and we’re looking forward to next season.”