Millwall striker Steve Morison has defended former midfielder George Saville after a loan deadline move away from the club.

Saville completed an initial loan to Middlesbrough with an obligation to make the move permanent in January, for a fee of £8million.

There was a permanent transfer deadline day bid for the midfielder by Tony Pulis that was rebuffed by the London side which included an attempt to sign Jed Wallace, too.

With the Boro man now a former member of the Lions, Morison has been quick to extinguish any criticism laid at the door of the 25-year-old.

With some fans not taking Saville’s depart well, Morison has been quick to say the criticism has been unfair.

The sum of money Middlesbrough will pay for the midfielder is a club record, and he now has arguably a better chance at making it to the Premier League with his new side, ahead of Millwall.

Speaking to the South London Press, the 35-year-old said: [When] you’re on something like 3k a week, and someone is ready to give you 12k, to do the same job, your head does get turned. 

“You think ‘bloody hell – that’s life-changing’. It’s difficult, but it is about how you are as a player and the mentality you have. 

“You still want to win. Your natural desire is to go and play football. What changes is peoples’ perception from the outside – that is the hardest thing to deal with.

“You can’t turn down playing at the highest level. If you don’t feel that way, then you obviously haven’t got the drive and hunger to push on.

“George can’t play badly – it’s not in him. He runs around. He’s not like some flair player who has decided he is not going to bother trying. It’s not how he plays football.

“The geezer got knocked out against Sheffield Wednesday. He was stone-cold out of it on the pitch. He doesn’t remember what happened. Yet everyone decides it [him not featuring in the next two games] is because he doesn’t want to be here.”

The Verdict

Steve Morison has a typical forthright opinion on the subject of Saville leaving Millwall.

Loyalty in football is a big thing for fans, but he is right - if someone offers you more money to do the same job and progress quicker, then you will go there - in any walk of like it is the same, including football.

Saville is gone, and there has been two weeks to digest the departure and for the current side to bed in his replacement, Ryan Leonard, and for another new signing, Tom Bradshaw to gel with the rest of the team.

The Lions side that will be facing Leeds after the international break needs to be back on it and unified after the recent dressing room unrest. 

It is vital the players all get on the same page, as with Millwall; the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.