Football
Exclusive: Millwall’s Japhet Tanganga on Championship Grit, Defensive Strength, and Play-Off Ambitions
Former Premier League defender Japhet Tanganga has revealed the toll of the Championship has taken some getting used to. The 25-year-old centre-back came through the Tottenham Hotspur academy and made a Champions League appearance again Marseille whilst at the club. Bettors will be keeping a close eye on how well he adapts to the league’s intensity as they decide on their Championship bets.
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Adapting to Championship Demands
Now, he is a permanent fixture at the heart of an impressive Millwall defence, which have not conceded more than one goal in a game in their last 11outings in all competitions, alongside skipper Jake Cooper.
It is a fine run which stems back to losing a seven-goal thriller at Bristol City back in August.
“The Championship is tough physically,” Tanganga admitted to SportsBoom.com.
“I’ve had to learn constantly playing Tuesday-Saturday, Saturday-Wednesday etc. It’s physically demanding.”
I don’t think people underestimate the Championship in terms of quality, you can see the quality in the league. But I think they can really underestimate that physical demand.
Japhet Tanganga
Millwall's Defensive Unity
“We’ve been good at the back, but It’s not just the defenders, it’s everyone in the team. It’s important for us going forward to give us that foundation.”
“It’s not just me and Coops, it’s everyone. Whoever’s left-back, right-back and the two midfielders in front of us, we’re a real unit.”
A last-gasp winner at Swansea City last weekend saw Neil Harris’ charges leap into the top half of the second tier ahead of a tasty welcoming of promotion-seeking Burnley to The Den on Sunday.
Aiming for Consistency and Play-Off Push
Tanganga is hopeful the Lions can find some much-needed consistency to push themselves into play-off contention.
“It’s crazy how bunched up it always seems to be around mid-table,” he added.
“The start could have been a bit better, but where we are in the table is a good reflection of the start we’ve had.”
“There are some games I feel like we have played really well and haven’t won. Where we are is a good start, I’d say.”
“Sometimes there are games where we have played well and haven’t won. Those games we can look at ourselves and say we probably weren’t at our best, but that’s where you need to stick in and get a result like we did over the weekend.”
“It’s definitely an ambition to get to the Premier League and there’s nothing wrong with ambition.”
“You have to take it step-by-step. We had a hard summer with losing Matty and we’re starting to gel together well now.”
Upcoming Challenge Against Burnley
"If you look at us for example, before we won a couple of games in a row we were in the relegation zone and two games later we’re in the top ten. That’s what it’s like.”
“It shows how important it is to get that consistency and striving forward and seeing where that takes you.”
“The goal is to find consistency and go on a run. You’ve got to build it game by game and hopefully you give yourself a chance.”
“Burnley will be a tough test for us. They’re at the top of the table for a reason, but we’re up for the challenge.”
Shane is an experienced sports journalist with over a decade on the front line, covering everything from football to horse racing. A familiar face in the snooker pressroom, his work regularly appears in the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and Daily Star, alongside SportsBoom.
While snooker is where many readers know him best, cricket is his true sporting passion, though he tends to keep that side of him separate from his professional beat.
A staunch traditionalist, he’s unlikely to share your enthusiasm if you believe The Hundred is the future of Test cricket.