Millwall boss felt officials could have clamped down on Huddersfield Town timewasting

Millwall boss Gary Rowett felt that referee Andy Davies could have clamped down on Huddersfield Town’s timewasting in today’s Championship match at The Den.

The Terriers successfully navigated their way through seven minutes of stoppage time with Danny Ward’s 67th minute goal ensuring Neil Warnock’s side collected maximum points.

“I spoke to the referee afterwards, and I spoke to the fourth official during the game, it was just an observation,” said Rowett, when asked about the way Town ran down the clock. “I don’t criticise them for doing it – we would do the same potentially. But you expect the officials to deal with it.

“They waved them to speed up play probably about 20 times in the last 20 minutes. But if they don’t actually speed the play up then it is kind of irrelevant.

“All I said is that you book someone early and it changes the game. They have to play within the realms of what is reasonable.

“I don’t think it really affected the game but as an experienced referee, towards the end, I expected him to do something about it – especially when they are 1-0 up and you can see the crowd getting frustrated. Everyone can see what is happening. They had about 10 players go down with cramp. But they are going to do that and manage the game.

“Neil has done it for god knows how many years. He takes the points and he’s happy walking away.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD