Gary Rowett: Millwall didn’t deserve anything from FA Cup tie against Sheffield United

Millwall manager Gary Rowett admitted his side did not deliver a good enough display in today’s 2-0 defeat to Sheffield United in the FA Cup.

It now means that there are no South London clubs left in the competition with Crystal Palace knocked out at home to Southampton earlier in the day.

Millwall failed to pass their first hurdle in the FA Cup for the second season in succession.

The 2019 FA Cup quarter-finalists went behind in the 23rd minute with Daniel Jebbison beating Bartosz Bialkowski at his near post.

James McAtee’s lovely pass put the Blades forward in behind the home defence and he showed good composure from close range.

United’s second on 36 minutes was heavily down to their talisman Iliman Ndiaye. He beat Charlie Cresswell on the right of the penalty area and his pullback was struck by Jayden Bogle, the ball deflecting to loop beyond the helpless Bialkowski.

Millwall did have a couple of chances to cut the deficit but Tom Bradshaw and Andreas Voglsammer were both unable to convert. Blades keeper

Adam Davies quickly closed Bradshaw in the 44th minute. Voglsammer went with the outside of his right boot for another attempt inside the box but his attempt went wide of the left post.

Rowett said: “We didn’t play with anywhere near the quality we needed to, to get anything out of the game or make it more competitive scoreline-wise.

“You concede two poor goals against a team like Sheffield United you are going to give yourself a mountain to climb because Sheffield United move the ball well and have got good players.

“We did have some moments. Bradders has one first half where the keeper just gets there before him. We had a couple of other half chances – Vogi a very good opportunity and Tyler maybe should’ve passed to Vogi towards the end but he makes a very good run and is unfortunate with his finish.

“To get a goal back might have made the end of the game quite interesting but I didn’t feel the performance deserved to do that. We were poor and I’m disappointed because we wanted to get through to the next round.

“I don’t know [why Millwall didn’t click]. We played really well the last game, we didn’t play well this game – we just didn’t move enough, we weren’t proactive enough to try and create opportunities. We were a little bit static at times when we were in possession.

“They are a good side, the likes of Ndiaye is a top, top player and he just drifts into little spaces and gives you a problem defensively. You can’t get done with those little bits of movement and in behind.

“We had to make some changes. At the moment the squad is a little light on numbers and we had some players coming back from injury that couldn’t play the full 90. Hutchy’s calf has been tight and I couldn’t take the risk playing him the whole game, so we’ve had to flip that around.

“We’ve had to make changes to protect the players as well as trying to remain competitive in the latter stages.

“The performance level was nowhere near good enough to beat Sheffield United.”