Millwall manager Gary Rowett on decision to sub off Mahlon Romeo at half-time in Fulham loss

Millwall manager Gary Rowet has explained his decision to take off Mahlon Romeo at half-time in their 2-1 defeat against Fulham on Tuesday evening.

The right wing-back made his first Championship start of the campaign but lasted just 45 minutes. Striker Matt Smith came on in his place with Ryan Leonard shifting to right-back, with the Lions also moving to a flat back four.

Rowett said: “It’s difficult, I think it’s Mahlon’s first start. I just felt they were getting in quite a lot down that side.

“It wasn’t just Mahlon, it was running off other people. I would’ve probably put Danny [McNamara] on at half-time but I didn’t want to make an extra substitution because I needed to get Smudge on the pitch.

“So we decided to put Lenny there for a little while, but what we certainly couldn’t do is be too open and concede another goal.

Look, it was Mahlon [coming off which was] the decision made. Last season here against Luton I decided to bring Pearcey [Alex Pearce] off.

“Sometimes it’s tactical and sometimes it’s not about the individual, although of course people always see it as you’ve taken him off, was it his fault? No it wasn’t. It was just a decision that I made on the evening.”