Too tense to watch? Glenn Murray knows exactly how you feel

Some fans might find themselves unable to watch at times and adopt ad-hoc ‘lucky rituals’ as the drama unfolds.

Glenn Murray will understand what they are going through.

He experienced exactly the same in the FA Cup penalty shootout at Millwall.

Murray has taken The Argus what went through his mind, and what happened in the huddle, as Albion scraped through to the semi-finals.

The focus is firmly on Southampton within the Albion training complex at Lancing, despite Wembley excitement elsewhere.

Murray spoke to The Argus about the impending Premier League fixtures.

But it was too good a chance to ask him about that afternoon at The Den to turn down.

So he told us about what felt like the longest penalty shootout of his career as Albion won through after he had sent their first spot-kick against the crossbar.

Mathew Ryan saved the fourth Millwall penalty, from Mahlon Romeo, before Jake Cooper blazed their sixth over the bar.

Not that Murray saw either of those failures.

He told The Argus: “I missed the early penalty and I was more nervous after that than I was before it!

“I was totally reliant on my team-mates to get me out of that situation.

“I turned my back when Maty was in goal and the first time I did it was when he saved it.

“For the remainder, I turned my back. I watched all of ours but I turned my back for theirs.”

Watch footage of Albion players after Cooper missed and you see Murray looking slightly confused as he mentally plays catch-up with what had just gone on while he was looking away.

He said: “Obviously, I knew from the reaction and from Duffy and Dunky throwing me up that Maty had either saved it or it had gone over or whatever.

“I didn’t really know what had happened.

“I just knew it hadn’t hit the back of the net.”

And then came the gesture which a lot of people noticed and remarked on as he headed across to the Millwall players while his colleagues ran to Ryan.

He said: “I just think it was a bit of relief on my part.

“It was a huge achievement as well for all of us but I felt for the Millwall boys.

“They had it all in their hands and let it slip away and I just think it was so close to us being in that situation.

“Obviously I have played against a few of their boys for a lot of years now and I just felt I would commiserate with them and say ‘Well played’, like you do after most games. And then I continued on to celebrate.”

It was suggested to Murray that the shootout must have felt like it took an eternity as he watched three Millwall players hit the target after his own miss.

He replied: “It did! It wasn’t the ideal scenario but we got what we needed and we took five brilliant penalties and we got where we needed to be.

“We got to Wembley and it should be a great day out for all the fans and players alike.”

Once Ryan’s save from Romeo had cancelled out Murray’s miss, the shootout headed towards sudden death.

Most television viewers in this country will have been watching the drama on the BBC with Jonathan Pearce commentating.

Those further afield will have been with the global feed, for which Sussex-based commentator Steve Wilson was on the microphone with ex-Albion skipper Adam Virgo offering analysis.

“We are now down to the people who did NOT want to take one,” Wilson told viewers as sudden death started.

Actually, Dunk looked very comfortable as he drilled one right into the bottom corner (pictured above).

And maybe that would be too convenient anyway – that each team in a shootout has five players who want to take a penalty and six who don’t.

Albion took Martin Montoya out of the equation given that Millwall by then only had ten men.

But Murray said all 11 were happy to step up.

He said: “I can tell you right now I was in the huddle and not one person said, ‘I don’t want to take a penalty’. Not that I heard anyway.

“We weren’t fighting to be that 11th man. The feeling I got from the squad was that everyone was willing to take a penalty.”

So works the psychology of the shootout.

Mind games can play a part in the relegation battle too.

Albion want to open up an eight-point gap on 18th-placed Cardiff City.

The Bluebirds might want that too given they are closer to Southampton, who visit the Amex, than they are to the Seagulls.

Cardiff enjoyed a good home win over West Ham in the last full weekend of league games three weeks ago.

But they then heard Southampton had come from behind to beat Spurs while Newcastle had done likewise for three points against Everton.

Murray said: “Speaking from experience, there is nothing worse than when you’re down there and you win and you come off and you look at the results and everyone else has won around you.

“It sort of almost knocks the stuffing out of you, even though you have won.

“I know how Cardiff would have felt when they see everyone win around them.

“It’s tough but that is the way it happens.

“It can work both ways. If you see someone lose the early game, it gives you a great opportunity to widen the gap. If they win, the pressure is on you to keep up.”

No one can steal a march in the survival battle on Saturday.

There is no early game relevant to the bottom part of the table.

But stakes will be higher as Albion return home for the first time since their precious 1-0 win over Huddersfield four weeks ago.

Murray recalls that game vividly and said: “I think people were possibly a little bit tense.

“We knew the magnitude of the game. This weekend will be similar.

“But listen, we won against Huddersfield an that’s all we need to do against Southampton.

“Hopefully it pans out that way. We are the home team and that gives us a slight advantage.”