Ugly scenes marred the end of the Tigers’ impressive away win at Deepdale
Liam Millar plays peacemaker as tempers flared at Deepdale(Image: Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Liam Millar says he was acting as peacemaker during the stoppage time flare up at the end of Hull City’s dominant 3-0 win over Preston North End at Deepdale.
Millar, who scored the opener on his return to his old stomping ground, had been taken off and was on the bench when Milutin Osmajic lost his head and decided to headbutt John Lundstram, in his latest act of bizarre stupidity.
The striker was sent off by referee Stephen Martin, before both benches clashed. City goalkeeping coach Erbil Bozkurt was also sent off, along with North End’s Peter Murphy.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” the Canadian told Hull Live when asked to give his version of events at the end. “Genuinely, I was on the bench and they were all just fighting and a couple of the guys behind me just said ‘Should we get involved?’ And I was like, yeah, why not?
“Then I just went down and I just got involved, but I was just a mediator. I was just breaking everything up. I wasn’t trying to fight anyone. I’m not really a big fighter, I’m more of a separator.”
It’s the second time in recent months that Lundstram has attracted the interest of opposition players, having been involved with Ben Pearson after the win at Stoke City at the end of November, and Millar’s reasoning for the Liverpudlian attracting such attention was typically humorous.
“People just must not like his face or something, I don’t know,” joked the Canadian. “With Mili (Osmajic), I don’t know why he did that, but obviously he was frustrated or whatever it was.
“I have no idea who got a red card at the end. I just saw Peter Murphy got sent off. I did see that, but I didn’t see anything else. I didn’t see anyone else get sent off. I don’t know what happened. Genuinely, I was just like in and around just like I don’t know what happened. I was just watching, trying to figure it out, to be honest. I was just all over the place really.”
On the performance, which saw City cruise to a comprehensive win thanks to Millar’s strike, a first for City from Akin Famewo and Oli McBurnie’s stylish finish, the winger says he felt it was deserved.
“I think it was a really dominant performance from us,” he explained. “We did really well and to get six points from these two away games is really pleasing. We’ve got to keep it going for Swansea.
“We definitely could have scored a couple more goals. Joffy had a couple of chances, I had one and I think I could have scored as well. That’s just football, isn’t it? You’re not going to score everything, are you? It was a really dominant performance and we controlled the game from start to finish, really.
“It was a good game overall. I was very happy. I’ve obviously not scored since Leicester, so needed it for sure. I was buzzing to get on the scoresheet.”
Here at Hull Live , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service.
Click here to be sent the day’s biggest stories.