GARY Rowett is adamant that Millwall will quickly shrug off any disappointment from their 2-2 draw against Luton Town.
The Lions were 2-0 up early on in the second half thanks to a fourth-minute strike from Zian Flemming and a 52nd-minute tap-in from Tom Bradshaw.
However, the Hatters struck back almost immediately through Elijah Adebayo, although the visitors looked likely to hold on for a narrow win. That was until the 88th minute, when Luke Berry’s long-range strike fizzed into the bottom corner to split the points at Kenilworth Road.
Most Millwall fans would have taken a draw against their fierce play-off rivals, but the way in which it happened means that it could damage the players’ confidence heading into a vital game against Norwich City this weekend.
However, Rowett is confident that his side will be able to bounce back quickly, explaining that they will focus on the positives from Tuesday’s game in Bedfordshire.
“I think it’s always a challenge when you go 2-0 up and they score to make it 2-1,” he said after the match.
“If you’re a defender, you kind of want to play a little bit safe at times and drop off in the right areas. I think it was just a little communication issue towards the end. We had three central defenders and they had three bodies in and around it. I think it was Berry who scored, someone’s got to get out to him.
“I think he’s just inside the box when he strikes it. They’re the ones where you’ve got to be brave, try and hold that line and not let the other team push you back. I think there was an opportunity where we could get out, but we stayed in and we allowed them to just stay on top of us with bodies.
“They’re little learning lessons. We’ve been very good at defending leads for a long, long time.
“We haven’t lost the game, have we? I think it’s one of those games where, when they score, there’s a bit of me thinking that they might go and get another one with the impetus and the pressure.
“A draw away at Luton – are we disappointed with that? Not really.
“Having been 2-0 up, we want more, but we aren’t going to be 1-0 up or 2-0 up in every game and just win it easily. The division doesn’t work like that.
“Teams like Luton are going to fight for their lives because they don’t want to drop three points behind us. That’s exactly what they did.
“You can’t afford to make mistakes if you want to see out the win and finish it off. In other games, we haven’t done that. Today, we just made a couple of mistakes at the end – whether that’s fatigue, whether that’s tiredness or what, I don’t know – but it is what it is.”
Photo: Millwall FC