‘For sure’ – Millwall boss makes admission after Coventry defeat

Joe Edwards gave an honest answer of “for sure” when asked if his side were guilty of overplaying in the final third of the pitch as Millwall were beaten 3-0 by Coventry City at The Den on Saturday afternoon. 

The Lions were clinical in their thumping victory over Sheffield Wednesday two weeks ago but struggled to create many clear-cut chances against Mark Robins’ side. 

Millwall registered 21 shots but were unable to find a way past Brad Collins.

“In terms of a style play and an aim, a heavy focus in the last two days in training and in meetings was how we work the ball wide to then deliver the ball into the box,” said Edwards. “Particularly with this opponent – as this is something Coventry have been struggling with. 

“I probably felt like a lot of people in the stands in that once we got there [the final third], we stayed there too long and overplayed and didn’t have as much focus on getting bodies into the box and balls into the box. 

“So that’s a big frustration. But from my point of view, from a coaching process, I can see we’ve been working for two to three weeks to get that part of the pitch right, and you have to understand there’s an element of patience.”

Matija Sarkic is back in training and is expected to be the Lions’ number one choice between the posts for the remainder of the season, but his deputy Bart Bialkowski made several impressive stops and Edwards was keen to praise his keeper.

“Last time out, we were clinical – that was them today,” he said. “They looked a bit sharper to everything. There are moments when your keeper makes a save from a shot from range and the rebound happens to fall exactly where their player is – you can feel a bit hard done by. 

“But then there are moments, the second [goal], where you can say their player has reacted quicker. For all the stuff that goes on between both boxes, it gets decided in both boxes. Bart did his job as well as he could, but we couldn’t back it up, and they were sharper, and they were clinical. We have to accept that.”