Millwall boss on his decision to play Murray Wallace ahead of Jake Cooper

Millwall boss Gary Rowett explained his decision to play Murray Wallace and drop Jake Cooper – and says the latter will come back “stronger” for it.

Wallace played in a back three with the returning Shaun Hutchinson and Daniel Ballard in the Lions’ 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest.

Rowett said: “We’ve missed Hutchy, and with Hutchy coming back I had a big call really – whether to play Coops or Murray Wallace. I just felt as though, Murray’s performances have earns him the right to go in there. But Coops will be back and will be stronger for it. He’s a top, top player.

“I had a choice whether to put Danny McNamara back into the team today but again, he hasn’t played much and I didn’t want to do that with Sheyi, Benik and Hutchy, who have all been out.

“We have been a little bit limited in what we can do. I felt as though, late on in the game, it was a perfect game if we have a few more pacey players to bring on.

“The likes of Mason [Bennett], the likes of Jed [Wallace], again the game becomes very different late on. But so far we’ve been organised, hard to play against. But I just think there’s another five or 10 per cent in order to come and win games.”