Harris: Players decide who will take the pens

Neil Harris says it is down to the Millwall players to determine who takes their next penalty after Lee Gregory’s miss at Brentford, writes Richard Cawley.

The Lions number nine converted from the spot in the 3-1 defeat to Barnsley before the international break but saw his latest effort saved by Bees stopper Daniel Bentley on Saturday. Gregory had the ball in the net moments earlier but referee Lee Probert had already whistled for a foul on Jed Wallace inside the box.

“It is a dressing room responsibility on penalty calls,” said Millwall boss Harris.

“Who is confident? It’s easy for 15,000 people in a stadium to say a penalty should be scored, but it is a pressure situation.

“It shouldn’t surprise anybody that out of 11 players there are probably eight who don’t want to take it.

“There are two or three who live on that pressure and would step up. Lee is certainly one of them. There are a couple of others who would love to do it.

“If the goalkeeper goes the right way then he should save it.

“You’ve got a one-in-three chance – either corner or down the middle.

The goalkeeper gets a good spring and it’s probably a good height for him, which makes it a bit more comfortable.

“Lee strikes the ball well. I’m not sure if his focus is 100 per cent. He has just had a goal disallowed and there is a funfair in the area before he takes his kick. Only Lee can say if that affected him.”

Harris felt his side were deprived of two other spot-kicks at Griffin Park and was critical of Probert for not playing advantage before he did penalise the Bees.

“It is another report I have got to write up where the referee has made some horrendous calls at key moments,” said the Lions chief.

“He just needs to let play go on for half a second longer, wait for Gregs to have his shot. “He was in a perfect position to see it and how he has not had the thought process to let the move run on is beyond me.

He made the call quickly because of the one he doesn’t give before – the foul on Hutch [Shaun Hutchinson] is the most blatant of the three.

“He knows he got that wrong and can’t wait to give the next one.

“If we score the penalty it becomes less of a talking point.

“There is also a handball in the area at the start of the second half. A corner by Fergie [Shane Ferguson] and their centre-half steps out and punches the ball with his arm above his head.

“There wasn’t a huge reaction from the fans behind the goal. It could only be seen from a certain angle, so I can understand if the ref doesn’t see that one.

“If we had scored one we could have got two or three – we were that dominant in the last half-hour.”