RYAN Leonard is backing Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Aidomo Emakhu to have eye-catching careers after both continued to impress for Millwall.
Norton-Cuffy, on loan from Arsenal and just 19, has two goals and two assists in his last 10 games and has turned in a number of impressive performances of late from the right-hand side.
Meanwhile, Emakhu, 20, has started back-to-back matches and demonstrated his exciting ability going forward against both Queens Park Rangers and Norwich.
The pair combined for the goal that was finished off by Tom Bradshaw to give Millwall a morale-boosting 1-0 win over the Canaries last night.
And speaking after the game, Leonard revealed his excitement over their potential.
He said: “They’ve both got a hell of a future in the game. Brooke has been excellent all season. He did well at Coventry last year and has hit the ground running.
“Aidomo’s had two starts in a row now which is amazing for him. Boxing Day he was man of the match and played really well and I think the second one can always be a harder one to get going but today I thought he was excellent. [Excellent] in a different way to be fair, we didn’t have as much of the ball so obviously we were trying to communicate to him behind the ball where to go and he was excellent. And especially on regains, both of them really hurt them down that side in the first half especially.”
It wasn’t just those two that impressed last night with many of Millwall’s players putting in a shift to deliver back-to-back wins.
Reflecting on a strong week for the Lions, Leonard said: “The atmosphere in the changing room is nice and two wins in four days is something we’ve been working hard towards and it’s a result that’s due to the hard work that everyone has put in.
“It’s a back-to-back win that has been coming the last few games, we’ve been a lot more solid defensively and I think we’ve shown in moments on the counter-attack and in possesion where we’ve created some really good chances in the game.
“It was a really good atmosphere in the changing room after the game and we were all obviously very pleased.”
The Den really got going in the second half during an incident-packed 45 minutes which saw Ashley Barnes assume the role of pantomime villain before George Saville was sent off.
Leonard, 31, said: “I think everyone knows how The Den can be. When the fans get behind you, they can be an extra man. It was a really good atmosphere on a Friday night and it was a chance to put in another performance, especially after Boxing Day.
“It just gives you that belief getting those wins after a long time without a win. And it created a really good atmosphere, it was a proper Friday night at The Den I would say.”
On Saville’s red card, he said: “It was one of those where Sav’s tried to make a last-ditch tackle for the ball. Obviously, I don’t know how the referee has perceived it in the rules. But we all know Sav, he’s a whole-hearted player, he gives 100 per cent, he’s gone on the counter-attack and tried to nick the ball and he’s completely missed it.
“We were up against it before that and going down to 10 men I think we saw the game out relatively well. It’s never easy against a team like Norwich as they have good players and good possession, but I think we limited them to a few crosses and corners at the end but other than that, there was no real clear cut chances they created.”
While results haven’t always been there, Millwall’s performances have generally been improving since their 3-1 defeat at Ipswich Town last month.
Leonard said: “I think as the gaffer said, we’ve been close the last few weeks. We drew with Huddersfield in the last minute and we drew with Stoke but I think in those games we’re starting to find our feet a little bit more. And sometimes you just have to try and get a win which we did against QPR, which creates a little bit of belief and confidence.
“And I think we showed that tonight. We didn’t have a lot of possession but we created some really good chances, we were a lot more careful on the ball and we played some good stuff and created the better chances in the game.”
Leonard has played all 90 minutes against Stoke City, QPR and Norwich in the space of six days.
Asked how his body is holding up, he said: “Okay, I think. I’ll be able to tell you in the morning!
“I’ve never known it to have this many games in such a short period of time but we’ve won two on the bounce and are four unbeaten now so I think it’s only helping us rolling from one game to the other.”