London Football News

Harris has blunt message for Millwall defenders

© Mike Egerton/PA Wire

Neil Harris challenged his defenders to step up and cut out the errors after a dominant performance only saw Millwall leave the Den with a 2-2 draw against fellow strugglers Hull.

A result that did little to help either side’s hopes of pulling away from the relegation zone began with Kamil Grosicki slipping his marker and lashing in an early goal for Hull.

But Millwall striker Lee Gregory headed home an equaliser midway through the first half and, after two Lions chances had been cleared off the line, Aiden O’Brien fired the hosts in front from the edge of the box in the 54th minute.

But Hull levelled on 73 minutes as Jordy de Wijs headed Jarrod Bowen’s corner back across goal and skipper Markus Henriksen nodded in at the back post.

And while Lions boss Harris was pleased with the overall display, he lamented his side’s lack of concentration at crucial moments.

“I thought we dominated from start to finish,” said Harris. “Shot count, set-pieces, crosses, aerial duels, foot races, tackles, shots on goal – we dominated everything.

“But the scoreline says 2-2 and that’s the bottom line. We can’t keep scoring goals at one end and conceding at the other, we have to get back to noughts and ones.

“We conceded one last week and it was an excellent result at Bristol City. We have to get back to that because to come from behind at the Den is not always easy.

“We got ourselves in front and are absolutely dominating the game and then gave them two free headers in our penalty area. Individually that’s not acceptable.

“Mentally they’ve got to be better. When you’re defending, you say ‘my man doesn’t touch the ball, my man doesn’t score’. That’s all it is. I learned that at a very young age.

“The first goal was poor, a player switches off, and he’s put his hand up for it. But the second one was just too easy.”




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