FORMER Bolton defender Danny Shittu took particular delight in putting one over on Owen Coyle on Saturday.

The big centre-back was Millwall’s stand-in skipper as they saw off Wanderers 2-1 at The Den.

And while he felt sorry for his former Reebok team-mates and the travelling away supporters in London, he had no sympathy for his old boss Coyle.

The Scot arrived at the Reebok Stadium with Shittu already at the club but he failed to make a further appearance and left for the Lions six months later after just 12 appearances in two years.

The 32-year-old believes he was not given a fair crack of the whip by Coyle so to lead a team to victory over his side meant a little extra.

Shittu said: “I think the thing about it is that I’ve been playing football for so long now, so I’m not really trying to prove anything to anybody. But it was personal, it did mean an extra little thing to me because of me being at Bolton under Owen Coyle's reign.

“He’s a great manager and everything, but personally I didn’t feel he gave me the chance and the opportunity and I think that maybe was the first game where he’s actually seen me play.

“I was not happy for their supporters and their players because they’re all great.

“But for me to get one up on Owen meant a lot because I’ve had to work hard since to do what I need to do in football to be playing again.”

Meanwhile, Shittu said he was unaware of alleged racist abuse directed towards Wanderers quartet Marvin Sordell, Benik Afobe, Darren Pratley and Chung-Yong Lee during Saturday’s game. Sordell took to Twitter to claim the four had been targeted while warming up during the Championship clash.

The Lions and Wanderers are both investigating whether an individual targeted the players Shittu, however, admits the first he knew of those claims was when he arrived home later that night.

“On the day we didn’t really hear anything,” Shittu added. “I think there was so much going on that day, but, personally, I didn’t really hear anything.

“It’s something that I didn’t really find out about until I got home and saw it on the news.

“It is something that is very, very sad to see.

“I know that Millwall have been doing a lot to combat these kind of things.

“And not just Millwall, I know a lot of clubs work on that.

“We’re very disappointed to hear something like that going on.”

Shittu is in his second spell with Millwall but says he never had any racist taunts as an opposing player visiting the Den.

He said: “When I did play against them, anybody will tell you that anybody who comes back to Millwall, it’s a hard ground to play at.

“The fans really do get on your back, but personally I didn’t get any racist taunts or anything like that.”