Millwall boss admits that a point apiece was fair reflection as Luton Town fight back to draw 2-2

BY DAN MARSH

Gary Rowett was disappointed after Millwall lost a two-goal lead against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road but admitted that the hosts probably deserved a point.

Zian Flemming fired the Lions into the lead after Hatters goalkeeper Evan Horworth made a mess of the Dutchman’s rasping half-volley.

The hosts reacted well and dominated the rest of the first half, but Tom Bradshaw doubled Millwall’s lead just seven minutes into the second half after a slick break.

Elijah Adebayo halved the deficit just before the hour mark before Luke Berry salvaged a point for Rob Edwards’ side with a sweet strike from the edge of the box.

The Lions stay fifth in the table after picking up a point on the road as Rowett reflected on another big match.

He said: “It’s the Championship. You don’t get points easily at any away ground at any stage of the season. Obviously, it was a very good start and we went 1-0 up. It’s a good strike from Zian but the keeper, of course, makes a mistake and we end up ahead.

“Maybe subconsciously, like we did against Stoke, the players just naturally sit back in a little bit and their formation caused us one or two problems. I didn’t think they had too many clearcut chances but they did have a lot of the territory and a lot of balls in our box that we defended well.

“I said to the players at half-time, we have to use the ball better. We keep turning it over all the time and that means it’s easy for Luton to pin us in. I actually thought for the first 15 or 20 minutes in the second half we passed the ball a lot better and played with a lot more composure. We score a very good goal – it was good, bright play to create the goal. Whether we deserved it or not, to be 2-0 up away at Luton is a fabulous position to be in.

“You could see the goal coming over the course of the game for Luton. It’s a poor goal for us to concede, we let the player just run off us. We don’t do our jobs properly and they score a goal. Then the game settled down a little bit again.

“The disappointment tonight really is, again, I’ve had to take players off because of fatigue and feeling things. Bradders felt his calf, Shacks felt his hamstring in the first half and managed to get through it. We were going to keep Lenny on but then we had to take him off because he was struggling a little bit towards the end. So we’ve had to make a few changes in the game that we probably wouldn’t have done and weren’t ideal.

“At that point, you’re hoping we can see it out with a back five, like we have done so often. But we go a bit passive at the end for the goal and that’s a disappointment. Their player gets it on the edge of the box, turns and shoots. If you’ve got three centre-backs on the pitch then you need to get out quicker.”

Bradshaw was withdrawn 20 minutes ahead of time after bagging his 12th goal of the season and Rowett admitted that the fixtures ahead played a part in his decision-making.

He added: “It’s a difficult position to be in as a manager. I don’t want to take Bradders off, but I’ve got to make sure he’s good to go at the weekend. At about 65 minutes he felt his calf tighten. I had to make that decision. We’ve got fresh bodies on the bench who have to come on and do a job.

“I think it’s about 83, 84 minutes we change it to a 5-4-1 and at that point, it’s really just about defending. So I don’t think how many attackers you have on the pitch is going to have too much bearing on trying to see out the game, it’s really just whether you can defend.

“We did it well for more of the game, but just a couple of moments where they capitalised. They probably deserved a point as galling and as disappointing as it is when you’re 2-0 up.”