Millwall boss on Zian Flemming penalty miss and verdict on 0-0 draw at West Bromwich Albion

Gary Rowett was happy with Millwall’s first-half performance during their 0-0 draw with West Brom this afternoon.

The Lions were the better side in the first half at The Hawthorns and they should have taken the lead – but Zian Flemming’s penalty was saved by Alex Palmer after Kyle Bartley had handled in the box.

“It’s never an easy place to come,” said Rowett. “They’ve got a good side, particularly at home. They’ve got good players. The likes of Swift and Jed Wallace – to be able to come on as subs – is a nice luxury to have.”

“First half we were excellent. We kept and moved the ball well. We created them some problems and at home you expect the pressure to be on you – you’d expect to have to defend a lot.

“We looked quite comfortable and then we got the penalty. Clearly you expect to be 1-0 up, just because of the nature of that situation. I’m sure Zian will be disappointed to not add his second goal in two games – but the keeper saved it and it sort of gave them a little bit of a lift.”

The Lions struggled in the second half as they found it hard to contain the home side, who came to life after the break.

The Baggies twice hit the bar and had to be thankful to Jake Cooper and Ryan Leonard ,who made a number of blocks and last-ditch tackles to keep the contest goalless.

“I don’t think they necessarily caused us massive problems but I felt certainly second half we struggled a little bit,” said Rowett. “They changed formation – they actually almost kept Sarmiento really high and wide on the left and Phillips high and wide on the right – it pinned our five back. So we decided to change formation to a four, there was no point having five defenders marking three.

“It helped us gain a little bit more stability, but it didn’t necessarily allow us to get out. Our use of the ball and our bravery second half was not enough to get us on the attack but sometimes you have to dig in the Championship to get a point and a clean sheet. We did that fantastically well.”