Millwall boss explains why Leeds United loanee not selected at Rotherham United

Gary Rowett has revealed that there was no injury issue with Leeds loanee Charlie Cresswell – with the England U21 international’s omission who for Millwall’s 1-1 draw with Rotherham on Wednesday night a purely tactical call.

Cresswell started the Lions’ 2-1 defeat at Blackburn last weekend but failed to make the matchday 18 as Rowett reverted to a 4-2-3-1 system.

Jake Cooper and Shaun Hutchinson, Millwall’s long-term centre-half pairing, were selected ahead of Cresswell, who is on a season-long loan stay in SE16.

Rowett admitted that his decision to leave the youngster out was fuelled by the desire to have options on the bench who could affect the game in the final third.

“No, just a selection decision,” responded the Lions chief, when asked if Cresswell was injured. “We played with a back four, I felt we needed to go with a four that have played together quite a lot. That’s what I decided to do.

“Our captain [Hutchinson] was left out of the squad last week, Mason Bennett was left out last week, Scottie Malone was left out this week. Young Cressy, that was just the decision I made, I didn’t feel I needed a centre-back on the bench.

“Sometimes people feel that if you’re not in the 18 somethings gone wrong. But don’t forget, the bench has to be able to impact the game, so you have to pick a bench accordingly. It might be that in a game or two, he comes back into the starting line-up, it’s as simple as that.”