A freezing Villa Park was a skill tundra for the hosts, as the stunted creativity of Steve Bruce’s side made their promotion challenge shrivel a little. Millwall have not won away all campaign and were forced by Jordan Archer’s illness to start a debutant in goal, the 31-year-old David Martin making his first appearance for the club since joining as a free agent in the summer. Villa might have fancied testing the goalkeeper’s sharpness but failed to summon the wit to do so. They ended up grateful to their own goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone, for preserving a point in the face of an impressive performance by the visitors.“Sometimes you have to take your hat off to the opposition,” said Bruce, who revealed that his team’s injury woes may have deepened here as Chris Samba and Henri Lansbury damaged hamstrings. “If you ever wanted to know how difficult the Championship is, you only have to look at Millwall. They were big, strong, physical, committed and they ran a million miles and caused us all sorts of problems. We’ll take the point and move forward because it could have been one of those horrible days when we lose. When your goalkeeper is your best player at home, it tells you we haven’t done enough.” Related: Aden Flint’s late strike helps Bristol City pull away from Sheffield United Continue readingreadfullarticle
