Millen coy on job aspirations

Keith Millen has refused to be drawn on whether he will apply for the Bristol City job on a full-time basis.

The experienced coach, who has been part of the set-up at Ashton Gate for the past seven years, is currently in temporary charge of first-team affairs.

Following Gary Johnson's exit last week, Millen has been installed as caretaker manager for the foreseeable future.

His first game in that role saw him take a point off league leaders Newcastle in a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

Despite making a positive impact during his short time at the helm, he insists he has given little thought to the prospect of throwing his hat into the ring.

"I'm still thinking about the game at the moment," he told Sky Sports.

"It was a tough game, we were under pressure for the second half and holding on. I will let the dust settle and get them in tomorrow and then move on from there."

Proud

Millen insists he has settled quickly in his new post and was delighted with the performance he got from his players against the promotion-chasing Magpies.

"Thursday and Friday were quite difficult, but I got my head round today," he said.

"I knew the players would be up for today's game and they showed that. Newcastle showed their quality and class second half and we were hanging on in the end."

He added: "The first thing I said was they had done themselves proud and they had done the club proud and they have done me proud. They couldn't have done any more than they did.

"We knew we might run out of steam, and that showed second half. But it gives us something to build on for our last eight games."

The point, secured after being 2-0 down, sees Newcastle's lead at the top of the Championship cut to just two points and manager Chris Hughton admits any talk of promotion must be put on hold until it is mathematically guaranteed.

"Games like this teach you to keep feet firmly on the ground," he said.

Favourites

"We would have been favourites with most people going into the match, but didn't get the win we wanted.

"I knew it would be tough because City had beaten West Bromwich Albion here and were under a new caretaker manager.

"I thought in the end we had the chances to take all three points, but from 2-0 down at half-time you are always happy with a point.

"There has never been any question about the spirit in our squad and we had to demonstrate it again."

Hughton has also hailed Andy Carroll, with the promising striker grabbing the all-important equaliser to prolong his impressive run of form in front of goal.

He said: "He's a big player. Not only his goals, he is developing as a player. His all round game is improving and he's a young lad.

"What we need from him is an end product and that's what he is giving us at the moment."