NEIL Harris revealed he left Lee Gregory out of his starting XI at Fulham to give his side “fresh legs”.
Harris paired Steve Morison and Tom Elliott up front at Craven Cottage, but the strikers’ struggles in front of goal continued as Millwall failed to score in a ninth game this season.
Harris also left Aiden O’Brien on the bench, before he came on for Fred Onyedinma.
Millwall lost to Oliver Norwood’s penalty, and Harris felt the difference between the sides was the quality in the attacking areas of the pitch.
“We went with Steve and Tom up front and that wasn’t just for the height advantage, it was for fresh legs as well,” Harris said. “Lee has been playing excellently but without the goal. I thought coming off the bench a little bit sharper could nick him that goal.
“Tom and Steve were always going to be a handful, it’s how it works as a pair. Do they get on the end of each other’s flick-ons and do they move as a pair? We worked on it in training and it looked okay. There were a lot of good aspects.
“Lee looked bright when he came on, Aiden looked brighter than he did the other night [against Hull] when he came on. We dominated the first ball up and the second ball all over the park. We had a few good moments of quality in the box and we got chances from it.
“But there were moments when we got into wide areas and didn’t have the quality. Fred put a couple behind the goal, Mezza [James Meredith] dropped one short. They’re key moments and that’s the difference in the levels and where we are at the moment: a lower-third team at this level compared to the top-third, who have those real moments of quality.
“That’s what international footballers bring.”
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