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ALEX Neil said he was “frustrated” and “disappointed” by Millwall’s 3-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion.
The two sides played out a relatively even first half at the Hawthorns, but the Lions once again conceded a soft goal five minutes after the interval, with Isaac Price striking from outside the box after driving at a retreating back four. The Baggies then scored two goals in transition late on.
Millwall have now lost four out of their last six games heading into the international break, and are sixteenth in the table.
Neil was asked for his initial thoughts on the match.
“Disappointed, frustrated,” Neil said. “Until the first, even probably the second goal, really, I didn’t think there were loads in the match. I didn’t think either side really created loads of chances.
“The best chance West Brom had in the first half, if memory serves me right, was a corner. The lad flicks it, and it goes over the bar. We had obviously Josh Coburn’s chance, but it fell to him. He doesn’t sort his feet out to score.
“The first half was pretty even. They probably had more control of the game with the ball, but we contained them pretty well. It was a reasonably decent first-half performance away from home.
“Then the disappointing thing is the first shot they have in the second half – we give the ball away, and then in the middle of the pitch, we’re in position. We go that way rather than going back towards our own goal. But even when the lad’s running through, we’ve got a back four. We’ve still got the goalkeeper; we’re tightening up. It’s a great finish, really. He passes it into the far corner.
“I thought even until the second goal, it was not too bad. The second goal is just a poor goal from our point of view. We should’ve dealt with it, no problem. We have two defenders versus one attacker. We get into a bit of a muddle even when the ball comes in. I need to look at the next part in terms of how that plays out.
“Then my biggest frustration was probably from 2-0 onwards because I just thought we played with no structure, no discipline. We started running about all over the place. That was frustrating because what happens is it goes from a relatively competitive game to just looking like a little bit of a mess. That was really disappointing.
“Even the last goal, it’s our corner. We’ve got a man at the edge of the box. We’re in position. We go and compete for it. The lad rolls us, and then from there, we’ve got two vs one down the line. He literally beats two of us, slips the ball down the side. We’ve got three defenders in the box, and they’ve got two attackers, and they pick the spare man out and score.
“From our point of view, it’s not a numerical problem. It’s not a structural problem. We just don’t deal with moments well enough.”