STEVE Morison knows one way to keep earning new contracts – help Millwall get the results that keep Neil Harris in the job.
Morison made the quip this week after Harris said previously that there would be a place for the captain in the Lions squad as long as he were boss.
Morison is out of contract in the summer and will turn 36 in the first month of next season.
The skipper is determined to earn a new deal, and is in a good position to be awarded one. Morison has been used 17 times off the bench in all competitions this season, and he showed again last weekend how valuable his experience is when he won a 93rd-minute free-kick that led to Millwall’s winning goal against Everton in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Harris has emphasised Morison’s value to the side on and off the pitch.
“It’s nice to hear,” Morison said. “We just have to make sure the manager stays here, don’t we? We have to keep winning games, stay in the Championship and see what happens.
“It will probably be towards the end of the season when we know where we are. When that happens hopefully it’ll mean I’ll still be here next season.”
This season, Morison saw Tom Elliott establish himself as first-choice target man alongside Lee Gregory. Since Elliott dislocated his shoulder Harris has used a 4-3-3 formation with Gregory the lone man up front.
Morison said there is one benefit to featuring less this season.
“I feel a bit better because I’m not being worked as hard,” Morison joked. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s frustrating because I want to play as many minutes as I can.
“Apart from the Middlesbrough one when I let the team down [by giving away a penalty], usually I come on and affect the game in a positive way. Hopefully I can have that good effect.
“Big T came in and did extremely well, and then the manager changed formation when T got injured. The team has played brilliantly in the last two games.
“The manager knows I’m here and I’m ready. My mindset is always the same. He knows he can call on me when he wants, whether it’s to start or to come on.
“As long as I’m still impacting the game in a positive way I’m not too worried.”
*Read a longer interview with Steve Morison in today’s Southwark News, where he discusses the trouble connected to the FA Cup tie against Everton, the players’ reactions, and what Neil Harris said to him after he gave away that last-minute penalty at Middlesbrough.
Image: Millwall FC