Danny Cowley on why he hopes Cardiff man rediscovered his love for the game at Portsmouth after escaping Millwall misery

And he’s looking forward to meeting up again with the Cardiff new-boy in the Carabao Cup tonight (7.45pm).

Romeo was turned on by sections of Millwall’s support after voicing his support for taking the knee – and criticising those who booed the players’ actions.

He subsequently joined the Blues on a season-long on deadline day of the August 2021 transfer window.

Although it was a temporary Fratton Park stay, the right-back acknowledged he could never return to The Den.

Sure enough, following 41 appearances at Pompey, in June it was announced he had joined Cardiff for an undisclosed fee from the Lions.

And, having started both of Cardiff’s Championship fixtures so far this season, the 26-year-old could well line-up against Pompey tonight.

Cowley told The News: ‘It will be good to see Mahlon again. Cardiff has been a great move for him this summer, I’m really pleased for him, he’s a great kid.

‘I think he was good for us and we were good for him, it’s nice when that works out.

‘When he came to us, he’d had a difficult period at Millwall, which was well documented.

‘He just needed to get out and away from that environment, focus on his football and find his love for the game again – and I think he did that with us.

‘It’s probably not for me to say whether he rediscovered his love, that’s for him, but that was our ambition when he came.

‘It had been a difficult period for him and it was good to get him back on it.’

Following an impressive first half of Pompey’s season, Romeo’s form noticeably dipped after Christmas.

Fellow loanee Hayden Carter eventually replaced him at right-back for the final six matches of the Blues’ season.

Cowley added: ‘Mahlon brings out a real athleticism to any team.

‘He’s fantastic at getting on the outside, overlapping and supporting his winger, and is a very, very good one-v-one defender as well.

‘He’s a really good kid, always smiling, always happy, and brought a positive energy to the group. These are the types of boys you want to recruit.

‘I always ask them the same things – do you love the game, do you like to train and do you like to run?

‘If you get a positive answer to all three of those questions then you’ll find the alignment you’re looking for.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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