MILLWALL manager Gary Rowett praised Aiden O’Brien for his commitment after the Lions attacker signed a deal until the end of the season.
O’Brien, 26, was going to be out of contract on June 30 but agreed terms for the remaining nine games.
Several players in the professional leagues in England have decided not to play beyond June 30 in case they are injured and see potentially lucrative moves scuppered.
Charlton’s Lyle Taylor has made himself unavailable for his team’s survival fight, while in the Premier League Ryan Fraser will not play again for Bournemouth. Rowett alluded to similar situations as he discussed O’Brien’s extension.
O’Brien, who is in his ninth senior season with Milwall, has started just three times for Rowett in the league since the Lions boss took over in October, but three of his four goals this season have come under him. He scored a last-minute equaliser against Nottingham Forest and the winner against Brentford, as well as levelling against Barnsley before Millwall lost in injury-time.
O’Brien is currently nursing an injury and is a doubt for Millwall’s game at Barnsley on Saturday.
“Aiden’s incredibly committed to this club, as we know anyway, he’s been here a long time,” Rowett said. “With what’s going on with a lot of clubs and a lot of players I thought that was really good on his behalf to do that.
“Unfortunately he got injured in a practice match so we’ve just got to hope that he’ll be able to play some part of the remaining games.”
Rowett wouldn’t say whether he believes O’Brien will be with Millwall next season.
“At the moment, having spoken to Aiden, I just felt that we needed to get through to the end of the season and see where we are in terms of the squad, his personal ambitions of playing more.
“I think that is something that will get decided whenever this current season finishes.
“We’re quite fortunate in the sense that we haven’t got five, six players out of contract. So it’s not a problem.”