Millwall boss Rowett delighted that training ground graft paid off against Brentford

Gary Rowett says that Millwall’s goal against Brentford was pay off for their training ground work – even if players don’t always like the repetitive nature of passing patterns.

The Lions broke explosively down the left-hand side against the Bees with Mason Bennett dinking in a cross for Jed Wallace to guide his header into the bottom left corner.

“It’s something we do a lot of work on – our passing patterns,” said Millwall manager Rowett. “Sometimes players don’t always enjoy it as much because it is repetitive.

“But it’s the whole point of making some movements automatic. Saturday was one of those. It was very, very similar to some of the stuff we have worked on.

“There were some really good bits of play. What was pleasing is that we have looked a little more composed as the season has gone on. I was disappointed after the first few games with our composure on the ball. But certainly at the weekend we were composed – it was much, much better – much more where I want it to be.”

Millwall completed 319 passes compared to Brentford’s 384. They also limited Thomas Frank’s side to just one shot on target.

“They are tough to play against,” said Rowett. “Out of possession you have got to get your pressing triggers right, to get the players moving in a compact way. You can’t sit deep so that you can’t get out.

“We got the balance spot on. The times they caused us problems was when they went a little longer against us – we didn’t deal with one or two of those moments.

“The defensive side since we have come in has been excellent. But if you look at a lot of teams without a huge, huge budget where they find it difficult is converting some good play and chances into goals and making those 1-0 leads into 2-0 leads to take the match away from opposition.

“It was a very strong defensive display but certainly wasn’t negative. The possession was not far off even and Brentford normally dominate all those things.

“We’re trying to get our wing-backs up the pitch earlier and at the moment it hasn’t affected our stability.”