No ‘major issue’ for boss Neil Harris as Millwall’s poor away form continues

Posted Sunday, November 04, 2018 by PA

Millwall boss Neil Harris insists only hard work will put an end to his side’s wretched away form after they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at London rivals Brentford.

Second-half strikes from Sergi Canos and Ollie Watkins made it six defeats and two draws for the Lions on their travels and ended the Bees’ nine-game winless run in all competitions.

“We don’t overthink this lack of an away win, but we have to have a bit of luck and we need to find that mentality of getting back to winning ways on the road,” he said.

“At this level, you have to work at it to make it happen and as a group I don’t think it’s a major issue that hard work won’t resolve.

“For 45 minutes we showed we can defend very well on the ropes and be strong against good sides, but ultimately we paid the price because we gave two goals away.

“I’m frustrated with the performance and away form in the sense that I thought we showed in the first half we can dig in, grind it out and limit our opponent.

“But we weren’t good enough with the ball so credit to Brentford for a strong defensive display, but at the same time we need to find ourselves in better areas of the pitch.”

He added: “What we can’t do is go up there in terms of performance one week and then go back down there the next.

“It was annoying because at half-time I said we needed to do the same again after the break, then spent three minutes in their half and then we’re one down and that’s unacceptable.”

Harris claims his side have created 90 chances in the last five games but need to learn when to put their foot on ball, starting with the next game at new leaders Norwich.

“We create chances but we didn’t build enough pressure or momentum and didn’t make good enough decisions. That has to end.”

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said it “felt good, but not just for me, for all of us” as his side claimed a first win in nine and his first victory in four since taking the reins at Griffin Park.

“In some of those games we maybe deserved more, but we didn’t feel sorry for ourselves and we never lost out belief,” he said.

“Confidence makes that final pass a little bit easier and makes you want to run back 40 yards and we did that in this game. You could see the difference as soon as things started working for us.”

Frank was angry at the way his side failed to combat Millwall’s direct approach after Canos’ 48th-minute opener.

He added: “It became a second-ball game and we played to their strengths for a little while. In that situation you have to be brave and I was a bit angry at times, but overall we did well defensively and showed that little bit of desire that you need to keep a clean sheet.”

But Frank believes there is much more to come from his young side.

“We have some very exciting players and I believe we can always do that little bit more, but we needed that win to start to believe in that even more,” he said.

“We created a lot of good chances and took two of them very well against a side that is very effective. That will help with confidence and will help us add that little bit extra as we go forward.”