Alex Neil felt his Millwall side were competitive for ‘large parts’ of 2-0 loss to Championship leaders Leeds United
Millwall head coach Alex Neil felt his side were able to compete with Leeds United for long spells despite the setback of conceding early in tonight’s 2-0 loss.
The hosts moved back to the Championship summit with this victory, their goals coming early and late at Elland Road.
Manor Solomon’s third-minute cross took a deflection off Jake Cooper with Lions goalkeeper Lukas Jensen only able to push the ball across his goal-line.
Ao Tanaka, the most impressive performer on the pitch, settled any nerves with a swept finish in the 85th minute.
Millwall also had George Honeyman and Femi Azeez come off with injuries and did not manage an effort on target.
There was to be no repeat of the Lions’ FA Cup victory on the same turf with their best chance falling to Cooper at the end of the first half but the big centre-back could not get his header on target.
“The first goal is really disappointing,” Neil told Millwall TV. “It is a cutback – Lukas goes to read it – it hits the inside of Coops’ leg and deflects into the goal. That’s highly unfortunate and it makes it difficult because although we want to stay in the game it means at some point we have to be more aggressive and try to score a goal
“First half we moved the ball well at times and we had a really good chance just before half-time – Coops’ chance with the header. I was really pleased with our lads.
“Listen, it was tough – they are a good side. It is not easy to come here. Second half we didn’t move the ball as well. We started to become a little bit tired in terms of the running and pressing to try and get the ball. We made really aggressive subs because we needed the goal. We know that is going to make us more exposed.
“The second goal is disappointing. We should be more aggressive in trying to stop the cross. It’s a cutback and we are the wrong side of the lad when he shoots.
“But as I said to the lads, for large parts of the game we were highly competitive.”