RYAN Leonard along with other Millwall players has stressed the importance of the summer rebuilding job facing the club this summer.
Millwall survived relegation from the Championship. finishing on 44 points and in 21st place. Neil Harris has admitted it will be a busy summer at The Den as he seeks an improved campaign next time around.
Leonard spoke to the club’s official website and said “The main thing is, we’ve secured Championship status and can build for next year. It was a disappointing end to the season in terms of results and we didn’t hit the heights of before, but we did the job and also had a great Cup run.”
Leonard joined the club from Sheffield United initially on loan until January but that move was made permanent at the start of the winter window. He was keen to highlight the clubs progression to the last eight of the FA Cup as the high point of the season. “The highlight of everyone’s season, including the fans, was probably the memories of the FA Cup. It was an underwhelming end to the campaign, but as I say, the important thing was getting over the line and securing Championship football for next season.”
This was Leonard’s first full season at Championship level and he has analysed his own form since making the step up. “I’ve enjoyed making the step up. Of course it’s my first season at this level, and it’s always going to be a long, gruelling campaign with so many games, but I think I can be stronger from that.
Going forward Millwall will look to make improvements so that they will not find themselves in the same position next season. The midfielder echoed the words of manager Neil Harris and captain Steve Morison in the need for new players to come through the door. “For us, we probably need to sign a few players.
Home form has been a key factor of Millwall’s success under Neil Harris and the 26 year old believes its an area that needs to be improved from this seasons showing. “Our home form sometimes can take care of itself, but our attacking play needs to be a bit better and it’s important to use the ball as best we can. That’s where we can build in the summer and during pre-season.”
