JED Wallace believes Millwall have developed into a side that League One sides fear playing.
The Lions drew 0-0 with Wigan on Tuesday night and should have beaten the most in-form team in the league after a second-half barrage of shots on Jussi Jaaskelainen’s goal, but they just couldn’t conjure a winner.
Wallace, with Shane Ferguson and strikers Steve Morison and Lee Gregory, is part of one of the most potent attacks currently in the division, but ahead of their next fixture with Blackpool this weekend the winger emphasised the need for focus and patience as the scramble for the play-offs heats up with just 12 games remaining.
“I don’t look too far into the future, I just look at the fixtures the teams around us have got,” Wallace said.
“It’s difficult when you’re at home and you’ve got the punters behind you wanting to press.
“But you can’t go around chasing people down in modern-day football on your own, they do a one-two around you and they’re gone.
“I always think that it’s better make to make a ten-yard run at the right time than a 40-yard run at the wrong time.
“I think there are a lot of teams in the league at the moment who wouldn’t want to play us. The front two are on fire and hopefully Fergie and I can keep up the supply.”
Wallace has yet to score for the Lions but came close on at least two occasions against Wigan, with an effort in the first half looking like it was destined for the top corner until Jaaskelainen got a fingertip to the ball.
There has been no problem, though, with the supply down the right since the 21-year-old’s arrival from Wolves. Together with the attacking impetus, as well as the defensive security, provided by Mahlon Romeo the combination has lifted the overall strength of the team.
Wallace regards his 20-year-old colleague highly, and revealed that soon after arriving on loan from Wolves he asked his new teammates about the powerful defender who had yet to play in the first team. Romeo made his debut against Walsall, when Wallace supplied him with the pass from which he scored his first senior goal.
“Mahlon is a very good player,” Wallace said. “I was impressed with him as soon as I saw him in training. I said to the guys, ‘Who’s that?’ And they said he hadn’t really played before. Football now is so power-based. You see the power and pace of modern football and he’s got that.
“We’ve had conversations about the defensive side of the game and I don’t think a goal has come down the right side since he’s played. I’m a great believer in getting the defensive side of the game right.
“When you break into the team and score a goal on your debut like he did it’s important to remember that you’re a defender. And he’s done really well with that because you can get excited when you score and think, ‘Scoring goals is much more exciting than keeping clean sheets’.
“He’s got a big future ahead and there are plenty of people he can learn from, like Shaun Cummings and Carlos Edwards.”