Rowett hails his Millwall side’s character after 3-2 comeback win against Coventry

By Alex Grace

Gary Rowett hailed his Millwall side’s character after coming back from two goals down to win 3-2 against Coventry.

The Lions found themselves 2-0 down thanks to goals from Kyle McFazdean and Matt Godden. However, they fought back with Jake Cooper capitalising on Simon Moore’s rush of blood to the head to half the deficit at the break. 

George Honeyman and George Saville both scored in the second half to give Millwall all three points.

The Sky Blues were reduced to 10 men when Gustavo Hamer was sent off in the 67th minute for a second bookable offence.

“It was a very poor start to the game – losing a goal so early in such a poor fashion,” said Rowett.

“For the first two goals, we have to defend better than that. It’s unlike us and a little bit lacking in concentration and organisation.  

“The first one is a throw-in that they take quickly. We switch off and let the lad get down the line, wins a corner and then we don’t do our job on the set-piece and find ourselves 1-0 down. 

“For the second one, they drop off us, and we give them too much time. It’s a great cross and a good finish, but we should defend it better – it’s a poor goal for us to concede.”

To add to Rowett’s problems, striker Mason Bennett was forced off with a hamstring injury, making him the third attacker – joining Zian Flemming and Tom Bradshaw on the treatment table – that the Lions are now going to be without.  

“Losing Beno to what looks like quite a severe hamstring injury – he just overstretched in the opening stages. Again, with the injuries we’ve got and players unavailable was frustrating, so it was a poor start to the game, not something I anticipated or worked on,  that;’s for sure. 

“I thought even in just the first 20 minutes, our passing was nervy. We looked edgy. We needed to settle down into the game and relax a little bit, taking a bit more time in what we were doing. 

“The goal gave us a bit of confidence, and as soon as it went in, you could see that they began to look a bit nervy at times defensively, and we started to play with a bit more composure. 

“That was what we needed to do, and that’s what I said to the players at half time – defend better, but if we keep our composure, with the ball, keep moving it, something will happen for us to get the second goal. And, it certainly did – not without a few chances for Coventry, though. 

“Whilst the first 20 minutes was poor, the last 70 in terms of character, energy and fitness levels was good, and certainly, the players that came on made a big impact in the game.”