“We got handed a lesson” – Millwall boss Gary Rowett’s verdict on 4-1 loss to Bournemouth

Gary Rowett admitted his Millwall side were “handed a lesson” by AFC Bournemouth on Wednesday night.

The Lions lost 4-1 at The Den and found the South Coast outfit too hot to handle as they chalked up a seventh straight Championship success.

Rowett’s selection options were depleted even further ahead of kick off with Murray Wallace and Shane Ferguson both ruled out for the remaining weeks of the campaign due to injury.

The Lions already have Ryan Leonard, Ben Thompson and Matt Smith sidelined. Only Leonard has any chance of making a return before the the season finishes.

Millwall were shaky defensively from the start. A fluid and pacey Bournemouth attack were able to cut through too easily with Philip Billing, Arnaut Danjuma and David Brooks all beating Bartosz Bialkowski before the break.

Rowett switched to a back four at the start of the second half – subbing off Alex Pearce for Connor Mahoney.

Jed Wallace cut the deficit soon after the restart but Dominic Solanke, who particularly bullied the Lions backline in the opening 45 minutes, adding a fourth after neat interplay with Billing.

Rowett said: “Disappointing, simply just because it is a game where you have to match Bournemouth physically and get close enough to them. I knew the team I put out was just a little bit athletically compromised in some areas, which would be hard against a team like Bournemouth, but I hoped we could cope with it. We couldn’t. We didn’t get close enough to them.

“It didn’t look like the game meant as much to us as it did to Bournemouth. They were a little bit sharper, competed, aggressive and were strong. They did those things far better than us. They looked bigger than us. While Bournemouth are a very talented side, the goals were very poor. They got into goalscoring positions far, far too easily.

“We got handed a lesson tonight, which we haven’t too many times this season. We got a little glimpse of what that next level looks like, and it’s something for us to work towards.”

Asked about shifting to 4-4-2 at the start of the second half, Rowett responded: “We had nothing to lose, [to try and] get a little bit more pressure further forward. We could’ve started like that but we’re compromised in the changes we can make. We’re hugely impaired and compromised with our selection at the moment.”