The Tigers winger has been heavily involved in City’s success since coming back from injury
Liam Millar admits he was fortunate to get away with a potential sending off at Millwall, but says West Brom’s Alfie Gilchrist was deservedly dismissed on Saturday.
Hull City‘s Canadian winger has returned to the fold after a spell out with a hamstring problem and made an immediate impact, with his assist setting up Kyle Joseph in the win at The Den, before playing his part in the Tigers’ victory over the Baggies at the weekend.
Millar escaped a second yellow card for kicking the ball away at Millwall, with referee Gavin Ward opting against dismissing him, much to the annoyance of Lions boss Alex Neil and a partisan home crowd.
On Saturday, Millar was clattered by substitute Gilchrist minutes after he replaced George Campbell, who himself had been walking something of a disciplinary tightrope after being booked with Albion unhappy about that decision.
“One hundred per cent,” he said when asked if he got away with one at Millwall. “I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, as you see, I put my hand up straight away. I thought I was going to get sent off, to be honest.
“Obviously, there was a bit of frustration. I hadn’t touched the ball for a while, and then I got it, and I was offside, and I was a little bit frustrated. I definitely got away with one, so I’m lucky. Sometimes you get lucky, don’t you? I’ve just got to take it and just say thank you.
“He (Gavin Ward, referee) said to me that he thought that I had kicked it away before he blew the whistle. That’s what he thought, and I was like, ‘I didn’t hear anything.’
“I got lucky in that, and Alex Neil wasn’t happy about it, was he? I don’t blame him for not being happy about it because I think I’d be raging too if I were on the other team. It was just one of them ones where I got lucky. I’ve learned from it, and I’m not gonna do it again.”
A week later, the 26-year-old was at the centre of controversy again when substitute Gilchrist cleaned out Millar in front of the MKM Stadium dugouts, and after a lengthy pause, referee Ruebyn Ricardo sent off the Albion man with 15 minutes to go and the Tigers leading 1-0 through Oli McBurnie’s penalty.
The Baggies have since confirmed they have appealed against Gilchrist’s red card, in the hope of getting it overturned, but Millar says, despite television replays suggesting there was no contact, he has the battle scar to prove there was.
“He definitely caught me on my knee,” he continued. “I’ve got a cut on my knee. He’s definitely caught me, high up. I’ve seen the video as well, and the video doesn’t look like it’s too bad, but he’s obviously caught me on the way down. He’s put his foot down, and he’s caught me with a stud on the way down.
“The video doesn’t look like he’s done much, but he still caught me really high, so for me it was a red card. I said to the fourth (official), ‘He’s caught me in my knee’, and I showed the fourth (official) the cut on my knee, and then the referee decided to send him off. He did catch me, so there’s not really much I could do about it. For me, it was dangerous.
“It’s football, isn’t it? It’s just how it is. You just never know what’s going to happen, do you? Campbell was on the yellow, and then if he did another foul, and then probably a couple more, he could have been sent off. They took him off, and then that happened with Gilchrist. That’s just football, isn’t it?”
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