SHAUN Hutchinson said he’s surprised there is some “doom and gloom” over Millwall’s start to the season – and insisted he believes in “the gaffer and the system”.
Hutchinson scored his first goal since last February on his first league start since March against QPR last Saturday but the Lions lost 2-1 to their London rivals.
Neil Harris’ side travel to bottom club Huddersfield Town on Saturday. Millwall are looking for a first win away from home in the Championship before Christmas since their 1-0 victory at Brighton in December 2014.
“When we’re at The Den – and, okay, I know the fans weren’t happy at the end of the game on Saturday – but I personally look forward to playing there,” Hutchinson said. “The atmosphere is intimidating for the other team and you thrive off that. That’s one thing that helps at home. Maybe that’s one difference away.
“When you’re not playing or winning [fans] have the right to voice their opinion. But we are giving it our all and I believe in the gaffer, in the squad and in the system.
“The levels of effort and commitment have never not been there. Even in training it’s competitive every day. When you look at our bench you think we haven’t had a bench like this in a while. There are a lot of young lads with not that much experience but everyone on the bench is capable of playing 46 games a season for the team.
“There is real competitiveness and maybe the gaffer is just trying to find his best team right now that can get the best results. I’m sure we’ll find that system that works and we’ll kick on like we always do.
“If you look at the table this year so far it’s probably the best I’ve seen us do and yet there seems to be a lot of doom and gloom, which I don’t really understand.
“But it’s a results-based business and that’s just the way it is. Right now, we’re not in a bad place.”
Hutchinson’s equalised against the Hoops last weekend but less than a minute later goalkeeper Bart Bialkowski’s botched pass towards Jake Cooper let Nahki Wells in for the winner.
Hutchinson added: “I felt like we started alright, lost it a bit but got back into it and I thought we were going to push on and get the win. And then a freak thing that probably won’t happen again this season happens.
“You could say maybe he could have just kicked it away. I think he had enough time to play the ball to Coops, which he tried to do, but it just got caught under his foot and Wells was there to poach on it. No one’s even talking about it, to be fair. He’s been brilliant since he came in for us and he’ll save us at times this season.”
*Read a longer interview with Shaun Hutchinson in Southwark News this Thursday, in which he reveals his personal “frustration” over his start to the season – and says Millwall currently have a “lack of belief and confidence”.
Image: Millwall FC