Millwall boss weighed up triple half-time change….but explains why he held fire on substitutions

BY ALEX GRACE

Gary Rowett contemplated making three substitutions at half-time during Millwall’s 1-0 defeat at Huddersfield on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions had a torrid first half in West Yorkshire and created very little as the Terriers dominated the proceedings.

Millwall did well to get to the break just one goal behind. George Long made two good saves and the hosts also struck the woodwork before the break.

“I thought about making three changes at half-time,” said Rowett. “But I just wanted the players to have the opportunity. We did it [made subs] about 55 minutes in, so we gave them 10 minutes in the second half.

“It was long enough for the players coming on to have an impact. They did have an impact – it wasn’t quite as positive an impact, but that’s what happens sometimes.

“We are a team. We understand and recognise what type of team we are. In some games we are going to blow teams away, like Watford, which we probably shouldn’t do, and then we will have games like today where we fall a bit short.

“You also have to hand credit to Huddersfield. They worked incredibly hard, and they broke with that little bit of intensity, like a team desperate to get that win, and they did just about enough to stop us getting back into the game.”