BART Bialkowski praised Millwall’s “mentality” and “professionalism” after their joint-biggest win of the season last Saturday.
The Lions defeated Bristol City 4-1 – they beat Sheffield Wednesday by the same score last February – and Bialkowski felt the hosts’ approach was in contrast to that of their visitors.
Millwall completed more passes than in any of their other league games this season, while Jed Wallace scored 11 goals in a campaign for the first time in his Lions career.
Scott Malone matched his career-best of six goals in a season and Billy Mitchell scored his first goal in senior football.
While the Lions have had little tangible to play for since their 3-0 defeat at home to Swansea last month, they have since held promotion-chasing Brentford 0-0 away and were unlucky to lose 1-0 against Watford at Vicarage Road as the Hornets sealed their return to the Premier League.
Gary Rowett’s side end their season at Coventry this Saturday.
“We’ve got nothing to play for but go into the games with the right mentality. Especially at this stage of the season, that tells you how professional we are,” Bialkowski said.
“We know what we want to achieve this season and next season as well. It tells you everything about our character.
“Mentally we’re very strong – you can only achieve something with the right mentality.
“The last game, Bristol were gone, they looked like they wanted to go on holidays already. They didn’t care, I’m sorry. I think they were the worst team we’ve played against this season.
“They’ve got decent players and a decent squad. Sometimes it’s hard. I’m not saying it’s easy for us to play every single game with that mentality.
“But we feel like we can do it and we’re able to beat teams comfortably.
“That’s why the gaffer was happy after the game and why he gave us a couple of days off.”
*Read a long interview with Bart Balkowski in this Thursday’s Southwark News. The goalkeeper talks about not being satisfied with two top-half finishes, wanting to “achieve something great” at Millwall, his run of minutes since the opening day of 2019-20 – and trying to catch the ball with a broken finger.
Image: Millwall FC