Millwall boss: It doesn’t sit right that referee took the blame for Blackburn game being postponed

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has spoken in more detail about Saturday’s postponed game at Blackburn Rovers – and reckons it is unfair to put the blame on referee Geoff Eltringham for the postponement.

The Lions were left unhappy at the fact that the undersoil heating system had not been turned on in anticipation of the adverse weather conditions.

And Millwall staff also tried to speed up the process of clearing the playing surface of snow.

Blackburn are missing Ben Brereton-Diaz – who has scored 22 goals this season – due to ankle ligament damage. The Chile international was at Ewood Park in a protective boot at the weekend.

Rowett told the South London Press: “I think it was an easy one that everyone put pressure on the referee but it was a difficult decision for him to make. There were certain factors on the day that when you got to the ground you could tell that it was going to be difficult to get the game on.

“I just think it’s very easy to put everything on the referee. But I don’t think the undersoil heating was on. Could the pitch have been cleared a little bit quicker? There are loads of factors which I don’t think are really relevant to me. But I felt it was an easy one to pin all the blame on the ref.

“The clear thing was that we wanted to play. The team had travelled up – five-and-a-half hours in difficult conditions the day before – and I’m pretty sure some of our fans had the same experience on their way to the game. At that point you want to play the game.

“We made that quite clear. But we have to crack on with it, even if we feel a bit frustrated.

“It meant a weekend without a game for the players, and some of them could possibly benefit from that – with the injuries we have got. But that wasn’t what we wanted.

“When you turn up and see Brereton in a [protective] boot in the tunnel then you appreciate it’s not ideal for Blackburn to be without their top scorer. They’ve got plenty of other good players.

“It’s going to be a different scenario when the game is re-arranged and we’ll see what happens then. When you rock up and see he is clearly out for a little while, there is a fair chance of what is coming.”