FA Cup: Ian Holloway plans Millwall changes after draw with Bradford
Saturday 3 January 2015 19:04, UK
Ian Holloway says the January transfer window will be busy for Millwall after they were made to dig deep to draw 3-3 against Bradford in the FA Cup third round.
The League One Bantams twice went ahead through Billy Knott and benefited from a Sid Nelson own goal but Millwall responded as Ricardo Fuller scored a double - including the all-important late equaliser - to add to Scott McDonald's first-half goal.
Millwall had struggled through a run of four defeats in five games prior to the match and face losing Scott Malone after permission was granted for Cardiff to speak to the left-back - and Holloway says that will be one of many changes at the club over the next few weeks.
He said: "I thought we showed terrific character to come back, the sort we haven't had for the last couple of games. As long as they give me what they did today then we can go the right way.
"The window is open, let's get cracking, I'm going to have to swap and wheel and deal, we will probably have a completely different set of players at the end of January because I cannot let it slide like this.
"People need to know their future: is it here, is it there, like Scotty Malone now knows. Then you get clarity. When you get clarity you can stick to tasks and be more consistent."
Bradford are on a 10-match unbeaten run and manager Phil Parkinson says his team's performance showed they have the ability to mix it with higher-level opposition.
"Scoring three goals away from home, we fully expect to win the game, but they have quality. As much as we played in a positive manner, their quality showed in the final third," Parkinson said.
"We are still in the hat and we look forward to the replay. It was a test and we set out to see how we looked against a Championship team - an interesting benchmark to see where we stand as individuals in the team - and I thought we went toe to toe with them.
"Billy Knott has real class in and around the opposition's box and those players are hard to find but today he took his two goals well.
"When we got to the Capital One Cup final (in 2013) the benefit for the city was immense and the financial benefit for the club helped galvanise everyone. We now take every cup competition as seriously as every league game."