GARY Rowett believes his players are capable of more than they are showing – and stressed he would look at “everything” to try to find a way to turn their form around.
Millwall have won just one of their last 13 games and after their 2-1 defeat to Coventry on Saturday and are 17th in the Championship, though with one or two games in hand on the sides above them.
Rowett was disappointed Millwall didn’t follow up positive displays when they collected four points against Bristol City and Nottingham Forest when they hosted the Sky Blues.
“It’s not about me, it’s more the disappointment about how the players have performed and the reasons behind that. If that’s one or two games then that’s disappointing,” Rowett said. “If it’s more than one or two games then I have to look at everything.
“I have to look at myself, I have to look at the staff, players – everything.
“I’ve been doing this for a while now, been coaching for 16 years and managing for nearly 10, so it’s not the first time I’ve been in this position. It’s not the first time I’ve been in a run of form where it’s not been as good as it should. And it won’t have been the first time we’ve done something about it.
“I think the group has shown we’re capable of more. The frustration is we go away to Bristol and put in a performance that’s absolutely desperate like Coventry have done today and we win the game comfortably.
“We play at home against Forest and we were the better side and should have won the game. We look like we’ve got something to build on and then we put that type of performance in.
“There’s loads of time, there are loads of teams in the division that are having a tougher time than us. We’ve got games in hand, we’ve just got to improve our performance.
“That’s all I’m focused on, getting the best out of the players. I don’t think I’m doing that at the moment and I’ve got to look at the reasons why.
“I thought the second-half performance, if we’d started like that we’d have had a chance of getting something out of the game.
“We’ve got the players to do it, some of them need to step up and start performing on a more regular basis.”
Millwall had eight players who tested positive for Covid-19, causing their previous two games to be postponed.
Rowett added: “It’s not an excuse. It’s just a factor. It’s just this season, it’s a completely different season. It’s a massive anomaly with some of the things you’re having to deal with, but nevertheless you have to deal with it.
“With no home fans, Covid included, that performance is not acceptable. It’s as simple as that.
“What we’ve done is I think we’ve raised the bar for a vast part of the time we’ve been in, but for the last 10, 12 games we’ve gone back to probably a similar position in the league and a similar level to when we came into the building.
“So we need to up it, we need to bring some fresh blood in and keep the likes of [Troy] Parrott and [Kenneth] Zohore fit for as long as they’re here for.
“It’s a challenge, but it’s a challenge that every manager’s got to take. It’s a challenge that Liverpool will have to go through, Carlisle United. Just because we’re Millwall doesn’t make us any different to any other club.
“What you can’t do is sit here and say that’s the reason we’ve won one game in 15 or whatever it is. That’s not been the reason we’ve not been good enough. Our standards and drive are not what they should be. It’s time to start doing something about it.”
Meanwhile, Rowett confirmed club skipper Alex Pearce missed the game after his wife gave birth on Saturday morning.
Image: Millwall FC