Manager Ian Holloway has admitted he was left gobsmacked by the loss to Blackpool last night.
Millwall suffered a one nil defeat thanks to a Fuller goal inside the opening 15 minutes of the match, and despite having the greater possession and the greater chances on the evening, we came away with nothing to show for our efforts again.
Speaking to the official site following the match it was very much a case of ‘missed opportunities’ for Holloway because he knows we had more than enough in reality to have taken all three points let alone a draw from the game.
It wasn’t helped either by Steve Morison missing from the penalty spot or our tendency to strike the woodwork on the day, so even going in behind at half time was somewhat hard to swallow for our gaffer.
‘Everybody is gobsmacked in the dressing room. I really liked what I saw at the start and I thought it was only a matter of time before we were going to score. One set piece, a penalty save, a couple in the side netting and one off the bar and these games are over.’
Holloway goes on to say that we simply have to dust ourselves down now and get ready to go again because there were a hell of a lot of positives that can be taken from the game and there was a lot of things that we can build on and in any other game he knows he’d have been sitting there talking about a victory and a return of all three points.
The gaffer also says that there was no blame in the dressing room following the match when it came to those who missed the chances, and he was pleased with that because the team win and lose as a group, and rounding on people isn’t going to help their confidence and confidence is a big thing when it comes to converting efforts in front of goal.
That doesn’t however mean he nor the players aren’t desperately disappointed with how the 90 minutes went, and nor does it change the most obviously fact that we have to start making these chances count and giving ourselves a chance in games.
Holloway also said that Morison went off with a neck injury, and he knows that did play a part in the remainder of the game as he had been doing a good job for us, but he couldn’t be risked and we have to hope he recovers enough for this weekend, because as Ollie admits Morison is the only type of forward we have who can do what he does, and the alternative is to throw a centre half up there to bully.
Ahead of Charlton, DJ Campbell and Danny Shittu have already been ruled out following their injuries against Derby. Campbell is likely to be out for two to three weeks, and having taken a knock to his achilles, Danny is off to a specialist and could well be out for longer.
Vital Millwall on:
Vital Millwall on:
Gobsmacked By Defeat – Holloway
