Millwall boss Rowett hoping to ease Bartosz Bialkowski’s workload – with stopper topping charts for Championship saves
Bartosz Bialkowski has impressed Gary Rowett – but the new Millwall manager is looking for the goalkeeper to be a little less busy in matches.
The Poland-born stopper had made the most Championship saves (51) before the derby against Charlton Athletic.
And Bialkowski made one fine reaction save in that match to push over Macauley Bonne’s ferocious volley – also denying Darren Pratley from close-range.
Bialkowski got a touch lucky when his initial partial stop from Josh Cullen stayed out – goal-line technology showing that more than two thirds of the ball were over.
The 32-year-old, on a season-long loan from Ipswich Town, is averaging just over three saves per match.
“In the first three games he has been outstanding,” said Rowett.
“He has made some tremendous saves. I think back to the Reading save he made – off a header from a corner – that was incredible.
“The one from Bonne was incredible. I’ve been really, really pleased with him.
“He’s claiming the one that hit the bar [from Cullen] was a save! But he’ll probably recognise himself that he made that have to be a save because of his first action.
“He’s been very consistent so far. We’ll be working hard so that by the next international break we can say Bart hasn’t had as much to do as he has in the previous games. We want to work hard to limit those chances.
“We don’t want him to be making the most saves in the division – because that means he is one of the most active goalies.
“We want to be more defensively solid as a team, but it’s nice to have a goalkeeper that you can be confident is going to make some big saves in games when you need them. That’s what Bart has done so far.”
PICTURE BY BRIAN TONKS
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