JOE Edwards said he “couldn’t accept” Millwall’s first half performance in their 3-1 defeat to Ipswich Town.
Conor Chaplin and Massimo Luongo both struck by the 12th minute of the game while Nathan Broadhead made it 3-0 before the break.
Bartosz Bialkowski was also required to make saves while Wes Burns hit the post.
The Lions offered little going the other way with this now back-to-back defeats following the 3-0 loss against Coventry City on Saturday.
It’s Edwards’ third game in charge and he said he was not happy at the manner in which Millwall’s players performed.
He told Sky Sports: “The whole performance was poor the whole night, in particular the first half. We needed no warning of what they’re capable of. All the things they did in the first half we saw in the build-up to the game, we spoke about it, we planned for it.
“But we start the game and we’re a yard or two off in every moment, the basics were wrong. And similar to our game on Saturday it felt like once the first one went in, it really hurt our belief and from there it looked like there was one team in the game.
“And as they have been in many of their games this season, they were clinical. The shot from the edge of the box (Luongo’s goal) we have five or six bodies there and it goes through them. But still we set up tonight knowing that that was going to be an issue, that they fill the box well, that they’re clinical, and when you defend your box like that you’re always going to be in trouble.”
Edwards said he delivered some home truths in the dressing room at half-time, the first time he’s had to be harsh with the players.
In the second half, Ipswich took their foot off the gas and Kevin Nisbet grabbed a consolation goal.
Edwards said: “I suppose that’s part of the journey of coming in and working with a new group. You have to go through different experiences to find out and learn about your players and learn about your team and as much as these nights at the time are difficult to go through, they’re valuable to see as we have to learn lessons from that.
“I think even speaking to some of the guys that have worked here previously and in the Championship, we feel like it’s a strong league this year with them [Ipswich] being an example of that. And if you get the basics like that wrong, you’re going to have many more difficult nights like that.
“And this group, the fundamentals, work ethic, the body language, the duels… it needs to be better than that.
“I want to see a reaction from what we’ve spoken about in terms of getting the basics wrong and what seemed to happen to our belief after that first 10 minutes and then the first goal. Because this isn’t going to be easy. I can accept losing football matches, that’s the way the game goes, and I can accept coming to a team who are on fire. Conceding great goals and losing football matches I can accept. I can’t accept the manner of that first half in particular.
“We’ll have ups and downs over the next month because it’s a busy one but it can’t look like that again.”
Edwards was also asked if the goals his side conceded were avoidable.
He said: “They were avoidable. As I said, we look open on the second goal when they initially build up which is an issue we had at the weekend. So we need to get better at dealing with that. But once we are in and around our goal, if you look at all of the moments back, there are enough players to deal with it.
“It’s the quality of your defending. That’s what it felt like in every position on the pitch, particularly in the first half. It felt like a case of man-for-man, their players did the basics but also showed the moments of quality. We were sloppy on the ball as well.”