Millwall boss gives “little bit of honesty” after 1-0 defeat to Watford

BY KAI BENNETT

Gary Rowett reckons Millwall are on their “last legs” as the Championship season draws to a close.

The Lions have one of the smallest squads in the Championship and the hectic fixture schedule has eventually taken its toll with a number of experienced first-teamers sidelined including Shaun Hutchinson, Murray Wallace, Ryan Leonard and Matt Smith.

Millwall have twice drawn against Norwich and Brentford, as well as picking up a point in meetings with Bournemouth and Watford.

“Sometimes as a manager you have to be honest,” said Lions boss Rowett after today’s 1-0 loss to Watford at Vicarage Road. “You have to stand there and have that reasonable overview of things and that little bit of honesty.

“Honesty for me now is that I don’t think the players could’ve given an awful lot more. I can stand here as a manager and genuinely don’t think the players could’ve given a lot more.

“We have players like Scottie Malone, who limped through training yesterday and limped through the game. Jed Wallace limped through training yesterday and limped through the game today. We have players on their last legs and we’re just giving it everything we have got.

“On Wednesday, I was disappointed. We rolled over a little bit and let a very good side tickle our tums. [Wednesday’s performance] wasn’t Millwall. Today we showed some fight and I come off today after losing the game and I’m probably happier [with the performance] today than when we’ve won games this season.

“At this stage of the season, on a hot day against a team in the top two, we gave every last drop and it just wasn’t quite enough.”