‘That’s the disappointment’ – Joe Edwards’ assessment as Millwall suffer Den defeat to Coventry

Joe Edwards was left disappointed with his side’s display as his Den debut was wrecked by Coventry City.

Goals from Matt Godden, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Ben Sheaf handed the Millwall boss a 3-0 defeat – his first since taking charge. 

The Lions had 21 shots but only managed six efforts on target.

“I’d still say we should be pretty disappointed with the performance,” said Edwards. 

“There are a lot of the basics, particularly basics that this team are normally good at. 

“A lot of duels in the middle of the pitch and second balls and people running off us in transition – that is just basic work ethic regardless of what kind of style of play you have as a team.

“We didn’t do well enough, and they looked sharper than us. 

“Three-nil is probably a harsh scoreline, but at the same time, we’ve been on the other end of that in our last game when we were clinical and emphatic and won 4-0, so that is how it can go.”

Despite the result, the head coach believes there are positives to take into upcoming games against Ipswich and Sunderland. 

He said.”There are definitely positives to take. We’ve spoken about being on the front foot and aggressive here at The Den, which is how we started the game. 

“Albeit there are times when you can look a bit exposed and open from it – that is going to be part of that transition process. 

“You’re going from being a team that is used to defending a bit more conservatively, and if you’re higher up the pitch, there’s going to be moments where it can look a bit exposed, and today they were clinical and looked sharp. 

“The big thing today for me was us with the ball. We had a lot more of the ball than the Millwall team would probably have typically had. At times, we looked composed, and it looked like we had a clear idea of how we wanted to build up in the first part of it. 

“But then in the opponent’s half, and particularly in the final third, we didn’t ask anywhere near as many questions as you need to ask of an opponent’s back four that comes here to The Den – that was the disappointment.”

PICTURES: BRIAN TONKS