‘Harsh scoreline’ – Gary Rowett’s verdict on Millwall’s EFL Cup defeat to Leicester City

Gary Rowett felt his Millwall side’s 2-0 defeat to Leicester City was not a fair reflection on the contest as they bowed out of the EFL Cup.

Ademola Lookman and Kelechi Iheanacho scored for the Foxes as they sealed a fourth round spot.

Lookman buried the first as Millwall got a throw-in badly wrong before Iheanacho converted on a counter-attack.

Asked about the opener, Rowett said: “Yeah, poor timing. If you look at a game like that when you have performed really well, and gone toe to toe, with a very, very good and experienced Premier League side…you can’t make mistakes. It’s as simple as that.

“We had a throw-in with Lenny and I just felt if our back three drop into space and want the ball then we get out of that situation without having to throw it down the line. I know that’s a safe option but sometimes you have to be brave enough to do things. We take the wrong option to throw it across the pitch but nevertheless we still have an opportunity to play forward and deal with it. We make a mistake, we give the ball away – we allow a good Premier League side into a scoring position without really having to work hard to do it. And sometimes they are the moments that cost you.

“Disappointing with the second goal as well! At that stage it should probably be 0-0. Both teams had opportunities. We probably had the better opportunities first half. We have a chance to throw it into the box – we decide, for some strange reason to go short, and they counter on us and score the second which I felt was an unfair reflection of the first 70 minutes.”

Rowett was impressed with the display of Connor Mahoney, who is out of contract at the end of the season.

He said: “I thought it was as well as he’s played for us. We know Connor is a talented player and we’ve asked him to match that talent with his work-rate and drive. He can say he hasn’t had as many opportunities as he thinks he should but he has come on in games and looked quite bright – Cardiff and Blackpool. He showed real appetite to get into good areas. He tracked back the length of the pitch and makes a tackle. That’s what you’ve got to do for the team. We know he has real quality.

“To make so many changes, I thought the team handled it pretty well. We couldn’t do a lot else tonight when you have Jed ill, Mason Bennett was unavailable, Murray Wallace played with a sore calf, Maikel Kieftenbeld was too sore really to play. Sheyi Ojo, I’ve already said [missed out due to illness]. Benik could only play 20 minutes, to see how his knee reacts – Hutchy could only play for 60 minutes. Never ideal to go into those situations but I actually thought, in the circumstances, we handled the game pretty well.”