Millwall boss gives his verdict on 1-0 loss at Blackpool

BY ALEX GRACE

Gary Rowett was left disappointed as his Millwall side fell to a third consecutive Championship defeat.

Shayne Lavery’s second-half goal sealed a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions in 2022 for Millwall.

“Really disappointed,” said Rowett. “When you come to places like this you have to do the basics of the game well. You have to fight to retain that clean sheet and see if your attackers can win you the game.

“The first half was fairly even. It was a little bit scrappy, they had a couple of chances, we had a couple of chances. Muzza has a good opportunity from a free-kick that gets headed down.

“We came in at half time and I wasn’t overly disappointed because the plan today was to introduce a little bit of pace off the bench – but you need to do that when it’s 0-0 and not when you are 1-0 down and having to chase the game.”

Lavery converted after Bart Bialkowksi had made a good save to deny CJ Campbell.

Rowett said: “We conceded a poor goal and we have done that too many times this season. We haven’t kept enough clean sheets, we haven’t had that same steely mentality that we’ve had in previous seasons. That’s the bit I need to find in the players and the players need to step up and find themselves.

“I felt late, there were some bright moments. Ollie Burke coming on, you can see his pace and power and you can also see that he hasn’t played for a bit but he is going to be a very good player for us. Tyler Burey on the other side was really direct and showed some good moments.”

It’s now four defeats in a row for Millwall in all competitions.

Rowett said: “We are in a poor run, we have some reasons for that poor run, which I think the injuries contribute to, a little bit of uncertainty around the club at the moment in terms of one or two players but we have to fight our way through that though and step up and get a little bit of pride back.

“We are on a run we don’t like being in. It doesn’t happen often, I certainly haven’t lost three league games in a row since I joined the club. It’s not something I’m proud of.”