Four takeaways from Millwall’s 2-1 loss at Blackburn Rovers: Rotherham looking big as away pain continues

Tyrhrys Dolan gave the home side the lead in the 57th minute before Ben Brereton-Diaz made it 2-0 six minutes later.

Jake Cooper pulled one back for the visitors with 15 minutes to go, and Zian Flemming had a golden chance to equalise but put his effort over the bar as Millwall fell to their fourth defeat from five away games this season.

Here are Alex Grace’s takeaways from the match.

Millwall are a disaster away from home. There is no buttering it up. The Lions have been winless away from home since March 5, when they won 1-0 at Reading. Since then, they have had 11 away games, taken just five points and scored eight goals – two of which were own goals. If you stretch it back even further, it is not just a problem that has come about this season. It’s only 13 wins from the last 51 away from SE16 – losing 21.

We can sit here all we want and dissect the numbers, but what irks Lions fans now is the type of goals their side is conceding. Nearly every goal against the side has been avoidable in each away game this season.  The story was no different at Ewood Park. The Lions defence was once again all over the place. Currently there is no leadership in the back three, so goals are being conceded far too easily. Saturday’s first goal summed it up. A long ball down the channel caused chaos for Scott Malone and Murray Wallace. Then there was an clear lack of communication between George Long and Charlie Cresswell, with neither of them knowing who should be dealing with the ball.

Set-pieces should be a strength for a side of Millwall’s size, but even they are causing problems. Something needs to change – and fast.

It can become challenging for managers and players to operate when the fans have turned. Every mistake that is made is greeted by groans from the crowd. The problem facing Gary Rowett now is that fans are losing patience, and some have already made their feelings known.

The defensive style that Millwall play has drawn criticism from some of the fanbase for not being adventurous enough. There is a feeling in the stands that the three at the back system at home, in particular, needs to be ditched but also that the Lions are too conservative away from home and seem happy if they come away with a point.

One caveat is the Lions’ fixtures away from home so far this season. Sheffield United, Norwich, Burnley, Swansea and Blackburn are all challenging places to go, especially the first three in that list.

Rotherham are next up on Wednesday night. However, they have been solid at the New York Stadium this season, having lost just once, although that came against Wigan on Saturday afternoon. The Millers are, at the time of writing, without a manager after Paul Warne left the club for Derby County.

There is a feeling this could be a pivotal moment in the Lions’ season. This is the start of a run of games favourable for Rowett and his team. Getting off to a good start would be a massive confidence boost going into this hectic run before the World Cup.

Long was again favoured in place of Bart Bialkowski in goal at Ewood Park. It will be interesting to see which keeper is selected at Rotherham on Wednesday.

In fairness, Long has not done much wrong in the two games he started, although the mix-up between himself and Charlie Cresswell for the opening goal at Ewood Park did not look great.

He made several good saves against Blackpool and a good save to deny Rovers a half-time lead.

He’s not had the most leisurely start to his Millwall career. From the work permit issues, to the injury he picked up – we are still learning about the Lions’ record signing. The international break perhaps came at the wrong time after he opened his account against Blackpool.

In a game that did not present many positives for Millwall, Flemming continued to get used to Championship football – which can only be a good thing for Millwall in the future. He seems to have more confidence than all of his team-mates put together. If he can help spread that around to the rest of the group, things could begin to look up.

As for Tyler Burey, he looked very good when he came on. He created Jake Cooper’s consolation and seemed to do more in the attacking third than anyone had managed to do before his introduction. Perhaps a start for him at Rotherham would be a sign of more attacking intent in a game that the Lions don’t want to be losing.