Steve Morison believes his “very nice” former club should be fine this season – but Norwich City’s supporters need to look beyond Russell Martin for the source of their defensive ills.
The 33-year-old striker spent 18 months with City in the Premier League back in 2011-13, scoring 10 top-flight goals – and is now back at the Lions for his second spell, the skipper notching his 250th appearance in Millwall’s victory.
Morison had his fair share of stick while at City, and has his own views on Martin’s experience.
“People need to find a scapegoat and it seems to be Russ,” said Morison. “I don’t know why. He wasn’t at fault for any of the goals and there are a load of other players out there as well.
“He’s an easy target because he’s the captain and he’s been there a long time. He’s got big shoulders and he’ll be able to deal with it, but a few others need to have a look at themselves in that dressing room.”
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Saturday’s 4-0 victory played out exactly how City’s hosts expected, and Morison offered an insight into what it’s like coming up against Norwich at the moment.
“That performance was no better than our others,” said Morison, with Millwall’s first win of the season coming against his former club. “We’ve just lacked the goals and here, everything came together and it was a very good performance against a very good Norwich team.
“We knew if we played to our strengths and were physical, we didn’t think they’d be able to deal with it because they’re a very nice team, very nice to watch, but you could see what happened out there – and I think we ran all over them to be honest.
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“We wanted them to try to play out with our players high, and if you do we’ll pounce on the mistakes. Ideally we want you to play it long because if you do, you kick it into our strengths which are our two centre-halves who love heading the ball. So it worked out well.”
Where City’s ambitions now lie will be an open debate for weeks – but for newly promoted Millwall, the aim is clear.
“They should be all right with the attacking talent they’ve got,” said Morison “It was interesting they were 3-0, 4-0 down, and just continued to do the same thing. Didn’t change it. So maybe they need a plan B.
“If you finish above Norwich, you’ll be safe. We know that and it’s something we’ll aim to do.”
• For the latest Norwich City news and opinion follow Michael Bailey on Twitter @michaeljbailey, Facebook @mbjourno and Instagram @mrmichaeljbailey
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