Lions boss Neil Harris: We made hard work of Plymouth cup tie

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Neil Harris admitted Millwall made heavy work of tonight’s EFL Cup win over Plymouth Argyle.

The Lions were heading out of the competition until the final seven minutes when goals from Lee Gregory and Aiden O’Brien turned the tie around.

Harris said: “We deserved to win the game. It was clear from the first whistle, we dominated the game.

“Yeah, we did make hard work of it. We gave two rubbish goals away again. If you give away poor goals you give yourself a chance of getting beaten and that’s what we’ve done the last couple of weeks.

“I’ve reiterated to the group that they have got to be better. But I was really pleased with a lot of the stuff we did tonight. Our use of the ball was really good in the first half and the second half, outstanding. We created lots of chances and Tom Elliott will be disappointed he came off without the matchball.

“Plymouth made it tough. They got everyone behind the ball, let us have it. We’re not used to that here at The Den but we learned from the weekend at Rotherham, where we had that but didn’t use the ball quite as wisely.

“Our delivery into the box got better as the game went along.”

Asked if the Lions had boosted confidence after two successive Championship defeats, Harris replied: “It’s always important to win – and here at The Den, that’s for sure.

“The results on the road are disappointing because we threw points away, not because we got beaten by the better team.

“It has been a challenge period for all of us. Millwall have lost a couple of games but it is like it is the end of the world. It’s not. It’s a realisation that we are not a top-two team. We all have to remember that.

“It is important [to win]. Not just coming off two defeats but the first of three home games. I want to win all three. It is a massive game on Saturday [against Swansea]. All that matters in our season now is Saturday.”