Up until the end of Wednesday morning, Charlie Cresswell was responsible for setting Millwall on their way to a 17th win of the Championship season last night. And then the dubious goals committee got involved.
Millwall’s opener in their 2-1 win over Swansea City has now been credited to top scorer Tom Bradshaw, but even on four goals for the season, Cresswell is third in the club charts. It’s proving to be a stellar campaign for the Leeds United loanee.
The 20-year-old started his 10th consecutive match last night, which is by far his longest streak of the campaign. His stock has never been higher at The Den and we are not talking about a second tier also-ran pleased to have a Premier League youth in their ranks.
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Millwall climbed to fifth in the table with their win over the Swans and have just nine games to go until the play-offs are finalised. The last time the Bermondsey outfit finished a campaign this high was 2001/02’s run to fourth in the second tier.
You can understand why tails are up under Gary Rowett’s stewardship and Cresswell is more than holding his own after a season of ups and downs. The centre-back began the season in Rowett’s defence, but was out of the team after five matches.
The youngster’s had a couple of small bursts in the side, but he was unable to convince Rowett he was the defender he needed until last month. Injury to Millwall veteran Shaun Hutchinson opened the door on February 4 to a return for Cresswell, ironically against Thorp Arch mucker Joe Gelhardt.
Cresswell hasn’t looked back and his development into this trusted, reliable defender has been noted. Rowett told South London Press: “If you look at the start of the season, your strength can sometimes be your weakness a little bit.
“You’re so aggressive and want to do well, but in that position, you have to play with a calm head as well as aggression. He has done that really, really well in this last period of games.
“He’s been excellent for us. He’s had lots of good spells. He’ll admit it himself that he made two or three errors, that any young player would make. The key is not about making an error, but learning from it and not repeating it too often.
“He has really calmed down and matured in how he thinks about the game. He’s getting the benefit from it because he has got amazing attributes for a young centre-back, aggression and desire, sometimes you can’t find them as much nowadays.
“Honing them is easier than finding them in the first place. He’s done really well and I’ve been really impressed. He’s got to maintain that level, like all of the defenders around him.
“Defending with composure is just as important as defending with aggression. You’ve got to make sure you make those good decisions. He should be applauded for taking it on.
“We can mention it to him, but he’s the one in the firing line and got to get out there and do it when the muck and bullets are flying. Ultimately he has really, really improved that aspect of his game.”
It’s a streak which has come on the back of a January transfer window in which interest was stirring in Cresswell’s services. By the time the final week of the month arrived, Cresswell had started just five of Millwall’s last 16 league games.
Understandably, clubs were asking Victor Orta what United’s plans were for a defender who, at that stage, had little hope of playing regularly down the home stretch with his loan club. Stoke City are understood to have tested the water without really forcing an awkward conversation between Leeds and Millwall on extracting Cresswell at the 11th hour.
It’s paid dividends for the centre-back, who now has a serious chance of being in the thick of a Championship play-off push before heading back to Elland Road. From being an asset Leeds may have been open to moving on, Cresswell may be playing his way back into their future plans on this evidence.
At the other end of the spectrum, you have Gelhardt, a talent miles away from any exit door, labouring through a Sunderland loan which has not gone the way he would have wanted. Ross Stewart’s injury on Wearside has torpedoed Tony Mowbray’s plans for a two-man strikeforce and left the diminutive Liverpudlian ploughing a lone furrow.
One win from the last five matches has seen Sunderland’s own play-off hopes take a knock, but if Gelhardt can take a leaf out of Cresswell’s book down the home stretch he may yet see his own fortunes change before he returns to West Yorkshire.
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