Millwall boss Gary Rowett: We didn’t play well enough but we’ll take the clean sheet and move on

Gary Rowett conceded that Millwall and Stoke City failed to serve up a classic in today’s 0-0 draw at The Den.

The Lions drew 17 Championship matches last season and once again were forced to split the points with Michael O’Neill’s side in a pretty dour contest that badly lacked sparkle.

Rowett said: “It’s disappointing but we won the cup game and then kept a clean sheet today. We’ll take the point, move on and accept we didn’t play well enough.

“The game was there to step up and cause Stoke more problems but we just didn’t look like we had that extra gear today. That’s probably the disappointment. But the players are professional and resilient – they do the right thing to get the clean sheet and we move on to live another day.

“It was quite hard for either team to get a foothold or grip.

“I think they’ll go away from home and beat a lot of side. They’ll outbattle side and have got good players in their ranks.

“We have to play with more composure and settle the game down. We were a little bit better in the second half but without doing enough.

“We struggled at times and that’s testament to Stoke’s resilience and physical strength. We had the opportunity to pass the ball in the first half and didn’t do it with anywhere near enough quality. And when we had the chance to win second balls we didn’t do that with enough drive and desire.”

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD