Lions hit by Hamer blow

GARY ROWETT refused to blame Millwall’s 10-day Covid lockdown for one of their worst performances of the season.

The Lions were secondbest on their return to action after eight players tested positive, resulting in Christmas games against Bournemouth and Watford being postponed.

Rowett revealed five of those players started the game – and he admitted Coventry should have won by a lot more.

The Sky Blues literally caught their hosts on the rebound - with Jake Cooper scoring a 20th-minute own goal after a Jordan Shipley shot hit the post and went in off the defender’s knee.

Gustavo Hamer added the second six minutes later with a shot which deflected off Cooper after his initial free-kick had cannoned into the wall.

The Lions grabbed a lifeline through Jed Wallace’s spot-kick but then had Murray Wallace sent off in the last minute for a second yellow.

Rowett said: “It was a poor performance. To come in 2-0 down probably flattered us. I thought Coventry were excellent and showed what it takes to get a result.

“We have had a tough two weeks in some ways. We have had eight players with Covid, five of them started today. Who knows what the effect of that is but certainly physically we looked a little bit off it but it was not the only factor.”

Mark Robins’ side had gone 425 minutes without a goal before Cooper’s intervention then scored a second just like that, when Hamer’s follow-up effort from his blocked free-kick flew in off the unlucky Lions centre-half.

Those and a Shaun Hutchinson header which hit his own bar were the only attempts on goal by a Millwall player in the opening 50 minutes - and they were all at the wrong end of the pitch.

Bartosz Białkowski denied Shipley, who hit the post again at the start of the second half.

Wallace’s spot-kick after sub Troy Parrott was brought down by Dominic Hyam gave the Lions hope.

But in the end it was the brilliance of Bartosz in denying Coventry’s Ryan Giles and Callum O’hare that stopped there being any further goals.

Sky Blues boss Robins said: “I thought we were brilliant, really, really good.

“But the penalty gave them an opportunity to build a little bit which was not what we needed.”