‘We deserved it’ – Millwall boss reacts to Josh Coburn’s late 95th minute goal in Derby win

BY ALEX GRACE

Alex Neil believed his Millwall side thoroughly deserved their last-minute 1-0 win at relegation-threatened Derby County on Saturday lunchtime.

The Lions had a chance to win all three points in the 83rd minute when Sondre Langas brought down Josh Coburn.

But the Middlesbrough loane saw his spot kick saved by the legs of Rams stopper Jacob Widell Zetterstrom.

Coburn put the penalty miss behind him and, in the 95th minute, sealed all three points when he capitalised on a rebound from a George Saville effort.

The Lions moved within four points of the top six before the 3pm kick-offs. 

“I thought it was no more than what we deserved in the game,” Neil told MillwallTV.

“I thought we had good opportunities in the game, and I thought in the first half, we had two or three good chances. 

“Japhet [Tanganga] should have had a penalty. We got into good positions but just lacked that final ball. We had a shot in the second half. 

“The keeper made a good save with his feet, we missed a penalty, so we did enough to win the game. 

“When you miss those opportunities, you are worried that the goal won’t come. I felt all the subs that came on made us stronger, they gave us energy, and they got after the ball more. 

“You could say we played midweek, we travelled midweek and travelled again today, so you could say we’ve done a lot more than Derby in that sense, I thought that we were the team that at the end were pushing to get the goal, we deserved it, delighted for the lads.”

Coburn returned to the squad in mid-week for the 1-1 draw with Preston following injury, his first involvement under Alex Neil. 

Neil added: “At Preston with Josh coming on and us going two up top, it helped us out as we retained the ball more. 

“The game at home to West Brom with the guys coming off the bench gave us more energy and we looked again like the team that was going to go and get the goal. 

“Unfortunately, on that occasion, we didn’t get it, but today I thought it paid off. 

“It won’t always work being aggressive with your changes – sometimes it will work against you – but we are at the stage of the season where we need to force the issue and get three points.”

PICTURES: BRIAN TONKS