GARY ROWETT has expressed his disappointment at Millwall’s lacklustre defeat to Bristol City following the stirring pre-match tribute to John Berylson.
The Lions failed to get going in a game that saw few chances before Matty James’ brilliant winner deep in stoppage time.
The afternoon had begun with moving pre-match tributes to Millwall’s late chairman Berylson, who died in a car accident last month.
And while Rowett believed the pre-match events and the game were “different things”, he admitted he was disappointed to lose on such a big day for the club.
He said: “I don’t think you can necessarily attach the two [the tribute and the game]. I didn’t see a lot of it but I can imagine it was an absolutely wonderful tribute to John. Certainly I thought the minute applause was immaculately done by both sets of fans and it was nice to see the atmosphere was brilliant.
“And I think as a manager you want to use that a little bit. I don’t think you can necessarily just go out on the pitch and perform brilliant because we’ve had a minute’s applause, I think they are two different things.
“I just thought we lacked energy, a little bit of spark. It was a bit of a nothing game. I think Bristol would’ve been happier coming here and having a little bit more control of the game – [they didn’t] create too much. I think they had one shot on target. We didn’t have a lot more than that, I think two shots on target. So I don’t think either team created an awful lot of clear-cut chances.
“I think that was the disappointment of the game really, having performed so well against Middlesbrough last weekend, for me, you’ve just got to go and scrap that long throw and make sure you see the game out and walk away. And at that point you’re sat there with four points and there’s some positives to take from it.
“[It was] disappointing, particularly disappointing in some way because – even though I’m separating [the tribute and the match] – as a manager you feel responsible and you want to win the game. John’s family is here and you want them to have a positive experience.”