JOE Edwards believes that Millwall’s intense start to the game and the energetic style he is trying to implement may have contributed to the Lions’ limp final 30 minutes against Middlesbrough.
Isaiah Jones struck after 58 minutes to give Boro the lead in a match that, up until that point, was controlled largely by Millwall.
They had been particularly strong in the first half where they created a number of chances, scored through Joe Bryan’s stunning effort and hit the crossbar via Jake Cooper.
But in the last 30 minutes after Jones’ goal, Millwall offered very little going forward.
Speaking after the game, Edwards said: “I don’t think it’s a mentality problem. It was possibly the intensity we were playing at. The intensity drop-off in the second half combined with some of the injuries we’re getting, maybe it’s still the players adapting to the way we want to play. I won’t pull back on that because look at what the first half looked like.
“We need to be front-footed, we need to play with high energy. But also if you back at that first half and that first half an hour, it was extremely dominant and one-sided from our point of view. When you’re playing against a team of Middlesbrough’s quality, you’ve got absolutely no right to dominate a football match from minute one to minute 90. Momentum is always going to to and fro in a football match. You rarely see a team put in the perfect performance, unless it’s a Man City against a lower team or something.
“That’s why, when you do what we did in the first half hour, I refer to Coops’ big chance, if you get the second goal that might end up being a very different game.
“I thought we started the second half quite brightly in the very first few minutes but then Boro grow know you haven’t put them to bed and they grow in confidence.”