Millwall’s Aiden O’Brien has told the club website that he is very proud of the team’s effort in their FA Cup defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Lions had a chance to make it into the FA Cup semi-finals, bringing memories back of the Millwall team led by Tim Cahill that made it to the FA Cup Final. They would however have to beat Brighton in front of the BBC Sport cameras, something they weren’t able to do despite a spirited display. They had a 2-0 lead going into the final ten minutes thanks to goals from Alex Pearce and O’Brien but the Seagulls showed their Premier League class with goals from Jurgen Locadia and Solly March forcing the game to extra time. In the end, Brighton would win on penalties to knock Millwall out.
While the match was gutting with the way Brighton came back, O’Brien has said that Millwall can be proud with how they played against a Premier League team and how close they got to making it into the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
He said: “I thought we battled well and played some good football, and we scored two terrific goals,”
“To score two and then concede two so late is disappointing as it’s happened to us several times this season. But everyone was terrific – the boys on the pitch, the subs, the staff, the fans – and it just wasn’t meant to be. Everyone was doing their bit, working hard and covering every blade of grass as everyone saw.”
“Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise in some way – we can now solely focus on the League without worrying about the Cup. We have a nitty-gritty survival battle on our hands, and we just have to put all our energy into that.”
