‘We’ll be in extra early and stay extra late’ – Millwall boss Rowett on correcting away form

Gary Rowett is working hard on pinpointing ways that Millwall can improve their away record.

The Lions’ form on the road instantly spiked as soon as Rowett succeeded Neil Harris in SE16. They banked 31 points away from the Den in the 2020-21 season – one more point than the previous campaign.

Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Blackpool was a third Championship reverse in a row for Millwall. The Lions have 14 points from 14 away league outings this time around.

Rowett said: “We’ve had a lot of positive home performances where there has been a real spark and drive about the team. We haven’t performed well enough away from home. It’s up to me to help the players change that because I’m the manager – I take responsibility for that.

“I can look at Peterborough, little bits of the Hull game and Blackpool – if I was a fan going to watch that then I’d feel really disappointed. I get that and completely understand it.

“We want to show that battle and fight – at times we didn’t do that well enough to win a game [at Blackpool], even though one goal and moment defines how we feel about the game.

“My focus is always the same. I come in Monday morning, I can’t do anything about it [the result] then. I’m paid to find solutions to win games of football. That’s been my focus this week.

“We’ll be in extra early, we’ll stay extra late and try to find ways to help the players perform as best they can.”

Millwall finished eighth on 68 points – just two behind sixth-placed Swansea in Rowett’s first season. The Lions were 11th with 62 points last time around.

“This team has performed to a really consistent level for nearly two-and-a-half years now,” said Rowett, the fifth longest-serving boss in England’s second tier. “That’s been a really positive period. Now we’ve got to fight to get back to that level and show we really, really care about winning games of football.

“A little bit of positivity – let’s whip a few into shape and see if we can move forward and get a result at the weekend.”