Millwall boss Gary Rowett makes telling comments about Middlesbrough reverse

Gary Rowett reckons his Millwall side have lost some of their competitive edge in recent weeks.

The Lions are winless in 10 Championship matches and lost 3-0 at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Millwall have largely been organised and defensively resilient under Rowett but all of Boro’s goals came in the opening 20 minutes.

“Defensively we have been really, really strong – it’s been down the other end of the pitch that we’ve not managed to take enough chances,” said Rowett.

“But I’ve seen little glimpses of things where we’re not quite working and fighting to the level that I think we have done previously, put it that way.

“I think the big factor of last season’s finish was that every game we scrapped and fought for everything. I couldn’t have said the same thing about some of the moments recently – and for that I have to take responsibility and find a solution.

“Maybe we have just come away a little from what we’re about and what Millwall has always been about. We need to get back to that quickly.

“You can look at the first goal, it is a really poor goal to concede. The second goal, whilst it’s a poor one because we need to close down quicker, it’s a fabulous strike from Tavernier and something we’ve been missing in our own game. It’s a bit of individual brilliance to put them two up.

“If you look at the third goal, whatever anyone has said there is a deflection and it deflects straight into the runner’s path. Again, we haven’t had those type of moments. We’re having penalty calls we can’t get that are blatant.

“But to be 3-0 down was very, very poor.”

Millwall are back on the road again in midweek as they go to Bristol City.

Asked about his team selection options, Rowett responded: “It’s that challenge that I probably need to change a few anyway from a freshness point of view and travelling away again. We’ve just had a long journey back and we’ve got another long journey to Bristol, which would be a little bit of a challenge even if you were winning games.

“We’ve got to make sure we get a fresh and energetic performance. I think we would make some changes. But I don’t think too many will be forced on us.

“We’ve spokena about the fact Mahlon [Romeo] hasn’t been able to train which has maybe caught up with him a little bit.

“I’ve got no injuries which are going to take people out of selection.”