‘They totally outplayed us’ – Jake Cooper on Millwall’s midweek defeat to Fulham and expresses respect for Aleksandar Mitrovic

Jake Cooper wants Millwall to learn lessons from their midweek reverse to Fulham – and reckons they could have done a better job of restricting some of the west London club’s attacking play.

The Lions struggled to contain Marco Silva’s side at The Den and could easily have been four or five goals behind before Benik Afobe made it 2-1 in the 87th minute.

Cooper headed a late chance over as Millwall suffered their first defeat of the season. Next up is a trip to Cardiff City tomorrow.

“They [Fulham] totally outplayed us,” said Cooper, who captained the Lions in the absence of Shaun Hutchinson.

“It was a good lesson for us, to show us what a top team is really like – the way they worked, the way they moved the ball, the way they ran off the ball – their physical strength and speed.

“It just shows when you are playing sides like that you have to be 100 per cent at it, all working together and playing at the top of your game – unfortunately on Tuesday night we didn’t make that happen.

“You have got to track your runners and mark people in the box – I was partly to blame for the first one.

“Goals change games and we shot ourselves in the foot with the early ones we conceded. They had plenty more chances. We struggled, but we still could’ve got back into it and nicked something.

“They weren’t goals that were out of this world, it was just little things we didn’t switch on to and they took advantage of that. A set-play cost us Saturday [in the 1-1 draw with Blackburn] and it was two errors again on Tuesday.

“Hopefully it is a good time to iron out stuff like that, at the start of the season.

“If you look for positives then Smudge [Matt Smith] made an impact when he came on and we managed to keep ourselves in the game and give ourselves a chance.”

Millwall fans were left unhappy at the antics of Aleksandar Mitrovic. And manager Gary Rowett was critical of referee Geoff Eltringham not booking the Serbian, who had already caught Daniel Ballard with an elbow, until the closing stages.

Previously Tim Cahill served a three-match ban for violent conduct on Ryan Fredericks in the April 2018 meeting of the two clubs in SE16. But Mitrovic somehow escaped punishment for his retribution on the Australian.

Yet Cooper, when asked about Mitrovic’s style of play, responded: “I think it’s good. He wants a battle, you can tell that for sure.

“He likes that contact, and he plays well when he feels contact. He gets into spaces – especially in the first half we didn’t quite know whether to go with him or stay and protect the space in behind.

“He’s a £25million player and he’s a top, top player. Credit to him – again on Tuesday night he scored a goal and dominated us. You have got to hold your hands up and say that.

“We have got to deal with him better – be just as physical and not let him win as many battles and lay the ball off as much as he did. We made the pitch too big and open for them.

“We play against many top strikers and we’ve got Kieffer Moore on Saturday, so we’ve got to deal with that again. We’ve got to learn quickly.”

Cooper had played every minute in 136 consecutive matches before a dislocated shoulder sidelined him at Blackburn in December 2020.

The 26-year-old centre-back, who has featured 209 times for the Lions, missed the Championship opener at QPR after four injections into his spine the day before the derby.

“The manager made the decision to rule me out, but I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent,” said Cooper.

“I was struggling towards the end of the pre-season games, that was difficult to take mentally because I’d been working 12 weeks to get myself ready for that point, the first match, and I missed it.

“Paul [Tanner] the physio managed it really well and he got me in to play 90 minutes against Portsmouth three days later. It was happy days – I could barely bend down to put my shoes on a couple of days before that.

“I’m happy with how that went and how I’m feeling now, I’ve got next to no pain – especially during games.

“We didn’t know for definite if it would stop it, but fortunately it has stopped the pain – for now, anyway.

“I’m on a new programme and my gym work has changed a lot.

“I had a grade one tear of the muscles between the discs and I had swelling in my sacroiliac joint, which is where the pelvis joins the spine. It was nothing too serious, but it was troubling me every time I bent over or started running.

“I’m in a lot better place. I’m hoping it is going to clear up over time. Once I get warmed up and moving then it frees up – it’s more when I’m stiff and sat down for long periods of time.”