Millwall boss Gary Rowett troubled by ‘inconsistent’ energy levels shown by his players this season

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has described his side as “inconsistent” in terms of both their performances and effort in matches after today’s 3-0 defeat to Swansea City.

Sections of the Lions support directed critical chants at the long-serving boss in the second half of today’s Championship loss.

Swansea had endured a difficult start to the campaign before winning last time out against Sheffield Wednesday but made it back-to-back league victories with goals from Jamal Lowe, Matt Grimes and substitute Mykola Kukharevych.

Millwall had 22 efforts with five on target.

“Goals change moods, goals change feelings in stadium and goals change players’ confidence levels,” said Rowett. “They shouldn’t do but that’s just how the game is sometimes.

“We started too passively and allowed Swansea to move the ball. They move it well and Grimes is as good as any midfielder on the ball – every time you go and press he just plays around it.

“It gave us a little bit of a problem but at 0-0 you have to sometimes ride those little moments. The first goal was a really poor penalty to give away, from where the ball was and the situation we were in.

“We responded quite well to that and got in some good areas without having a clinical edge to us. We just didn’t have that clinical edge when we did get those chances.

“We changed formation a couple of times and even at 1-0, I felt if we went on and got that next goal then the game would turn and would change. We concede a pretty poor second goal and then from there on I didn’t really like the way we responded.

“We’ve had a habit of conceding goals and showing our frustration rather than fighting until the last second of the game. We had some big moments – Nizzy and Dunc – but without the goal it gives you nothing to chase with and lift the mood and atmosphere, to get the players on the front foot.

“The third goal summed it up. We give the ball away, they end up crossing the ball and the lad is free and heads it in. They were certainly three very poor goals for us to concede.

“We started 5-3-2 which worked quite well against Rotherham and West Brom. We changed very early on to 4-3-3 and then went to 4-3-2-1, we tried everything today.

“Ultimately we need a more consistent feel to the team, in terms of performance – not so much team selection. We’ve been too inconsistent so far – not just in quality but in effort and that’s probably the one that has disappointed me the most. Like the Norwich game, I didn’t think we were competitive enough off the ball – it’s something that has been a hallmark of our performances for a long time so I certainly don’t want that to creep in as the norm for us – because we can’t afford to do that.”

Asked how he cuts that aspect out, Rowett said: “The players have to do that themselves. There is a responsibility when you are out on the pitch. If you are a senior player you have got to step up and lead – drive the standards. I take responsibility for performances, of course I do – I’m the manager. I don’t think I have ever shied away from that. But we also want to see some of the players step up and show more of an edge to us.

“I don’t think it is something they consciously take out on to the pitch but it is something that seeps into our performance and we need to do that better.”