‘We got what we deserved’ – Gary Rowett delivers verdict on Millwall’s EFL Cup exit after heavy 4-0 Reading defeat

Gary Rowett expressed his disappointment after Millwall were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by Reading at the Den.

The Lions boss named a strong XI for the EFL Cup tie after beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in Saturday’s Championship season opener.

But the South Londoners fell behind inside the opening 60 seconds courtesy of Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan. 

The 20-year-old grabbed his second shortly after the break before a free-kick from substitute Charlie Savage squirmed through the hands of Bart Bialkowski. 

Mamadi Camara bundled home a fourth in the dying embers of the match.

When he was asked to sum up the evening, Rowett said: “It’s more disappointing than frustrating. We went quite strong. 

“We obviously had the result at the weekend, which we were hoping to go and try and win another game to roll it forward. 

“We spoke about it last year, the game at Cambridge – we made a lot of changes and we didn’t perform very well and lost.

“Then all of a sudden, you’ve got to try and go again on Saturday, so I felt as though it might be better to try and get a bit of momentum. That didn’t go so well.

“First and foremost, Reading thoroughly deserved the win – they were far better than us.

“They ran with more intensity, they looked like they wanted to fight and play for each other more than we did. We got what we deserved and they got what they deserved, which is a cracking win for them.”

A heavy defeat in SE16 means the Lions’ have failed to progress past the first round of the League Cup again following last year’s defeat to Cambridge United.

Millwall will be looking to make amends – and build on last weekend’s win at Middlesbrough – on Saturday when they host Bristol City.

Rowett added: “I’m not going to diminish the meaning of the game, because we wanted to win, but there weren’t three points on it like the game at the weekend, which are ones we desperately need to win to be where we want to be. 

“I was looking forward to trying to win a cup game and see where we could go in that as well. 

“Making limited changes was an opportunity for some to come in and perform, but as a team, not the players that came in, as a team, we didn’t. 

“The goals we conceded were woefully poor. If you watch them back they were terrible goals to concede – that sums up the evening. Again, credit to Reading – I thought they played very, very well and we didn’t.”

PICTURES: BRIAN TONKS