GARY Rowett admitted that Millwall were made to pay for their missed chances against Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts limited the Lions to a small number of chances, although they weren’t able to put goalkeeper Zack Steffen under a huge amount of pressure. Across the 90 minutes, they managed just two shots on target from four in total, registering an xG [expected goals] of 0.61, which was more than their opponents [0.47].
It’s been a running theme in many of Millwall’s away matches, as well as some of their games at The Den, and it a major reason why Rowett is so keen to add more attacking quality and depth to his squad in the January transfer window.
However, he explained that fine margins ultimately handed Boro the win at the Riverside Stadium, and that a little bit more luck could have seen his side walk away with a positive result from a difficult trip to Teesside.
“You’re away from home against a side that are probably one of the form sides in the division,” he said after the game.
“You’re not going to get lots and lots of opportunities. Murray had an excellent chance in the first half where he just gets too much on the header, little glance, I think it goes in. Bradders had exactly the same in the second half. Zi had the moment where maybe he shoots, maybe he finds Vogi, but he finds G and the lad just gets back and makes the tackle. If he goes down, it’s a penalty. Sav has a couple of efforts late on that get blocked.
“That’s the game, isn’t it? You’ve got to find something outstanding. They found a moment of outstanding quality through Forss. It’s a great strike, bottom corner, no saving it.
“We had some similar positions and couldn’t quite find that moment, that happens. It’s a division of fine margins as you see with the league table, the points separating teams. Sometimes that moment lets the margins go your way.”
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