ADAM Barrett said he “can’t wait” to work with new manager Gary Rowett after guiding Millwall to four points from three games as caretaker boss.
Barrett, who took over short-term from Neil Harris, will be a coach in Rowett’s backroom team.
Millwall twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Cardiff at The Den on Tuesday night and Barrett is looking forward to the start of the new era.
“I met with [Rowett] yesterday and I think it’s exciting times for the club,” Barrett said. “I’m really working forward to working with him and learning from him, an experienced manger.
“I think he’s going to bring a fresh outlook.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, everyone at the club has been a tremendous support. It’s a great group of guys to work with, the staff have been outstanding.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with them.
“Yes it was a quick turnaround [from the Brentford defeat] but you get that in Championship football. I’ve been doing that the last two-and-a-half years so nothing unusual there.
“The difficult thing is getting the freshness in the legs when you’re getting a couple of knocks. The big thing today was the mental side of the game after Saturday’s defeat, the way it happened.
“I can’t wait to get started, we’ve got an experienced manager coming in, it’s great to have a freshness, new ideas.
“I’ve absolutely loved stepping up and I was proud and honoured that the board had the confidence in me to step up on a short-term basis.
“To have Gary come in with his staff of Callum [Davidson] and Joe [Carnall], I can’t wait to get started. Hopefully we can move forward together.”
Tom Bradshaw scored with his fourth and fifth goals in his last four games, after Danny Ward and Junior Hoilett had twice put the Bluebirds ahead.
Barrett continued: “That’s what we signed him for and we knew what we were getting. I know Tom quite well and played against him. We knew he could get goals.
“Unfortunately he had that bad injury but it’s full credit to the lad, he’s been fantastic and has worked extremely hard behind the scenes.
“I think we’re now starting to see what a very good player he is.”
Cardiff boss Neil Warnock said it was “scandalous” his side didn’t claim three points after he felt they had dominated.
Millwall were 2-0 up at Brentford on Saturday with seven minutes left before losing 3-2.
“I’m just delighted with the character of the team after a difficult game Saturday, a difficult last 10 minutes,” Barrett said.
“To come back twice tonight against a very strong Cardiff team I was delighted with the character.
“The lads fought back twice, Bart [Bialkowski] pulled off a couple of important saves. We had some chances ourselves.”
“It’s been a real topsy-turvy two weeks, and to come away with four points from the three games I’m delighted for the boys and everyone at the club.
“Obviously now the new manager comes in and hopefully he can take us forward.”
Image: Millwall FC