Neil Harris and the players are still coming to terms with the sudden death of the Lions keeper
Neil Harris has to help guide Millwall through a difficult few weeks. Image: Millwall FC
NEIL Harris said he will support Millwall’s players however he can as they come to terms with the loss of their team-mate Matija Sarkic.
The goalkeeper passed away last week at the age of just 26, leaving the Lions in mourning after such a sudden loss.
Millwall head coach Harris said he will and the club will guide the players however needed ahead of their return to training next week Wednesday.
Asked about the dressing room at a press conference earlier today, he said: “At the moment, we can deal with it the best we can from afar. I’ve seen some players in person and I’ve spoke to some of the players on the telephone. The players are fully aware of where I am and the football club is if they need us.
“There’s been a lot of communication between the players themselves which is understandable and positive for me that they’re together in that. We’re back in the training ground next Wednesday, June 26 and that’s obviously an important moment for us. A difficult moment for us, but important for us.
“I’ll try to find the right words for the group, the players will try to find the right level of respect that needs to portray the moment.
“What we also know was Mati Sarkic was an unbelievably driven professional and athlete that wanted to succeed and that will drive us forward as a group from day one because ultimately that’s what he would want us to do. So it’s about finding the balance between being hugely respectful but also continuing with the start of pre-season.”
Sarkic’s passing comes less than a year since the death of chairman John Berylson last July.
Harris reflected on a difficult year for Millwall and the strength needed to overcome tragedy.
He said: “This football club has had a lot to deal with over the years. And in many ways I’ve been fortunate to be a part of many difficult moments as a manager, a head coach and a player. The club’s always grown stronger coming out the other side and we have to do the same again now.
“It’s been a bizarre 12 months for the football club, even going back to the Blackburn game at the end of the previous season. And then losing John, [having] three head coaches in one season and then losing our number one goalkeeper. It’s a difficult period.
“This football club has been built on strength and aggression over the years but also love, camaraderie and togetherness and strength of character and looking after their own.
“The fans use the phrase ‘once a Lion, always a Lion’ and that has to be the case now and that’s what I’ve been installing in the players in the last 10 weeks of the season and that has to be us moving forward because that is our football club and that’s our biggest strength.
“This is a real moment of despair and a heart-breaking time but we have to be together with this and move forward.”
