Lions revenge after icy welcome
GARY Rowett claimed that his Millwall players were angered by poor changing facilities at the Madejski Stadium and that it inspired them to their comeback victory over Reading.
Alfa Semedo gave the home side a 17th-minute lead with a speculative 35-yard drive after poor Millwall defending.
The Royals seemed set to hang on to their lead in a drab second half, but Millwall struck with late goals from substitutes Matt Smith and Mason Bennett.
Millwall’s squad was forced to change in temporary facilities in a concourse between the South and East Stands – opposite the normal dressing-rooms in the West Stand.
“We certainly weren’t hoping to hold our team meeting in a concourse that was about minus-eight,” Rowett said.
“All the players felt that it was a tad disrespectful to put us there. But it gave us more motivation and we certainly used that to our advantage. No, we weren’t in a caretaker’s shed. It wasn’t quite as good as that.
“If we’d lost the game, I would have said the same thing. I’ve got no real complaints, but it was the players who felt aggrieved.”
A Reading spokesman declined to comment, but it is believed that most other visiting sides to the Madejski this season have been afforded the same changing facilities.
It was Millwall who began the more positively, with Shaun Williams seeing a shot deflected wide and Jake Cooper firing wildly over.
They went even closer in the eighth minute, when Scott Malone slung over a cross from the left and George Evans rose alone to meet it. Evans guided his header towards goal but, with home keeper Rafael Cabral well beaten, it thudded against the crossbar.
Reading gradually improved and went ahead nine minutes later, the goal tinged with a touch of fortune.
Millwall keeper Bartosz Bialkowski threw the ball to Williams, but the midfielder did not appear to realise that it was coming to him.
Semedo nipped in and, from 35 yards out, he beat the backtracking Bialkowski with a speculative finish.
Reading maintained the pressure towards half-time, but Millwall could have equalised from a Malone freekick. Cooper found space at the far post only to nod weakly wide.
Millwall pushed forward strongly in the latter stages of the second half and were rewarded in the 76th minute when Smith jabbed home from close range after Tom Bradshaw’s scuffed shot.
Ovie Ejaria struck the crossbar as Reading tried to respond but, five minutes from the end, Bennett dashed their hopes when popping up to nod home the winner.
“It is a hard loss. Obviously, we are not happy with the result,” Reading manager Veljko Paunovic said.
“It is not the time to put the blame on somebody. We are all responsible for this result.
“We will look to bounce back as soon as possible.”