The Lions have scored ten points in nine days, and despite their outstanding form, Joe Edwards is aware of the physical toll a hectic schedule can have.
The festive season is always a hectic time in England, but the Saturday falling on December 23 in 2023 led to an even more packed schedule of games within a short period.
Millwall experienced a successful few days, securing a draw against Stoke City followed by consecutive wins over Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City, and Bristol City yesterday.
After a season of challenges, Millwall suddenly gained 10 points out of a possible 12 in just nine days, marking a significant turnaround. This has paved the way for a much quieter couple of months, with Millwall anticipating fewer league games in the rest of January than played in the past 10 days. They also have only one midweek fixture before the end of February.
Commenting on the intense fixture schedule, Lions boss Edwards remarked, “Looking ahead at the fixtures now and how much it calms down in January and February… and I know the way the Saturday fell on the 23rd [of December] made it like that, but when you’re part of it and it’s four games in 10 days, you kind of go – and I’m not getting our violin out, the lads are fit players – but when you want a quality product…”
“They [Bristol] would feel it, it was a bit flat, but I was looking at ourselves after half an hour and thinking ‘is this a bit of anxiety?’ We’re away from home, and we’d happily take a point? Or is it just we’re flat and fatigued a bit? It’s a fair point because you definitely feel it and you find yourself in that spot as the person picking the team, particularly when you’ve been doing well like we have, of wanting to leave the team as consistency is key. But you also say ‘do I need to freshen it up?’ It’s a tough balance.”
“So the way that game sort of ebbed and flowed and both teams had spells where they looked a bit flat or a bit sloppy, [the fixture schedule] has to be a contributor. We’ve been at our max for 10 days.”
Asked if a broader conversation was needed about the heavy fixture list at this time of year, Edwards said, “I’ve worked at Premier League and Champions League level where the money dictates and you kind of get why there’s so many games at that level. But it feels like our schedule really calms down now, so if even one of those games of the four we’ve just had [was moved]…”
“I know people want to watch football around Christmas, but with the travel and the cost, it feels like it’s been a real stretch. And that’s why I’m absolutely delighted with the players because when you are where we were – we hadn’t won in a while and we weren’t playing great – and you look at the fixture list knowing it’s going to be relentless, it can be quite daunting. So the way the players stepped up and done what they done across the four festive games is all credit to them.”
other related news; They’ve both got a hell of a future in the game’ – Ryan Leonard excited by the potential of two of his Millwall teammates after another strong showing against Norwich
