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IT’S doubtful that Matt Mills realised the significance of summing up Wanderers’ hard-fought win at Bournemouth as a “Perfect Day” in a week that music lost the legendary Lou Reed.
It was hard to argue with the sentiment, though, considering how flawlessly executed the tactical gameplan had been on the south coast and how vociferously the 1,000-strong travelling support had backed them from the terraces.
Whether the result is enough to transform a season that has had one too many sad songs is still up for discussion.
But Mills feels that it has lifted some of the pressure that had been building in recent weeks when draws seemed to be snatched from the jaws of victory against Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.
“Nobody wanted those wins to start coming more than we did, especially when they have felt so close recently,” explained the in-form defender.
“To finally get it is a great feeling so hopefully we can kick on now and get another one next week.
“I wouldn’t say it was a relief but there is obviously an eye on what we want to achieve this season. If we can go on a run then it’s clear to see that you can propel up the league quite quickly. We have the quality to do that – we just need to replicate this kind of performance week-in, week-out.
“I just thought our gameplan was executed perfectly. I think playing away from home gives us that opportunity to suck teams on to us and then kill them on the counter.
“As far as away games go in the Championship I thought that was fantastic. It was enjoyable to play in and you could see the camaraderie with the lads at the end with the fans, who were fantastic, it was a perfect day all round.”
Mills believes that Wanderers could take some lessons from their performances on the road of late at Birmingham, Blackpool and Bournemouth and apply them to their game at the Reebok.
But the defender also points out that a counter attacking style also requires some understanding from the terraces.
“I heard a couple of times people shouting ‘someone press the ball’ but we didn’t need to,” he said. “When they are passing it around at the back they are not hurting us. But when we nick it back we are devastating on the counter.
“At home we have got that pressure to take the game to the other team but I think we need to be more patient.
“There were times when we were 1-0 up that we showed our ability to keep the ball and kill the game. That’s something I think we need to do at home.”
Dougie Freedman recently claimed that Mills is playing his best football for five years.
And after working hard to get back into the manager’s plans, you were not about to find the defender denying it.
“Behind the scenes the physio and medical staff have really been working hard with me and I feel like my body is able to do the things I want it to do.
“That’s no disrespect to the physio at Leicester or in the old regime but I feel fantastic and physically able to do more of what I want to do.”
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It was hard to argue with the sentiment, though, considering how flawlessly executed the tactical gameplan had been on the south coast and how vociferously the 1,000-strong travelling support had backed them from the terraces.
Whether the result is enough to transform a season that has had one too many sad songs is still up for discussion.
But Mills feels that it has lifted some of the pressure that had been building in recent weeks when draws seemed to be snatched from the jaws of victory against Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town.
“Nobody wanted those wins to start coming more than we did, especially when they have felt so close recently,” explained the in-form defender.
“To finally get it is a great feeling so hopefully we can kick on now and get another one next week.
“I wouldn’t say it was a relief but there is obviously an eye on what we want to achieve this season. If we can go on a run then it’s clear to see that you can propel up the league quite quickly. We have the quality to do that – we just need to replicate this kind of performance week-in, week-out.
“I just thought our gameplan was executed perfectly. I think playing away from home gives us that opportunity to suck teams on to us and then kill them on the counter.
“As far as away games go in the Championship I thought that was fantastic. It was enjoyable to play in and you could see the camaraderie with the lads at the end with the fans, who were fantastic, it was a perfect day all round.”
Mills believes that Wanderers could take some lessons from their performances on the road of late at Birmingham, Blackpool and Bournemouth and apply them to their game at the Reebok.
But the defender also points out that a counter attacking style also requires some understanding from the terraces.
“I heard a couple of times people shouting ‘someone press the ball’ but we didn’t need to,” he said. “When they are passing it around at the back they are not hurting us. But when we nick it back we are devastating on the counter.
“At home we have got that pressure to take the game to the other team but I think we need to be more patient.
“There were times when we were 1-0 up that we showed our ability to keep the ball and kill the game. That’s something I think we need to do at home.”
Dougie Freedman recently claimed that Mills is playing his best football for five years.
And after working hard to get back into the manager’s plans, you were not about to find the defender denying it.
“Behind the scenes the physio and medical staff have really been working hard with me and I feel like my body is able to do the things I want it to do.
“That’s no disrespect to the physio at Leicester or in the old regime but I feel fantastic and physically able to do more of what I want to do.”
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]