Harris has a pop after Den boys are held
MILLWALL boss Neil Harris questioned his side’s mental strength after they were held to a draw at home to Hull.
The Lions came from behind to lead but switched off at a set-piece as the Tigers snatched a point.
“We dominated from start to finish,” said Harris, whose side have now gone six games without a win.
“Shot-count, set-pieces, crosses, aerial duels, foot races, tackles – but the scoreline says it was 2-2 and that’s the bottom line.
“We can’t keep scoring goals at one end and conceding at the other.
“To come from behind at The Den isn’t always easy but we got ourselves in front.
“Their second goal was too easy, though – two free headers in our penalty area and individually that’s not acceptable.
“Mentally they have to be better. When you’re defending don’t let your man score. I learnt that at a young age.
“It comes down to the mindset and focus of the players and doing your jobs better. At the moment we’re not doing that.”
Hull went in front in the sixth minute. Jarrod Bowen found Kamil Grosicki in space in the box and the Poland star’s right-footed drive beat Jordan Archer at his near post.
The hosts were level in the
22nd minute. David Marshall misjudged the flight of James Meredith’s cross and Lee Gregory rose to nod home for his eighth goal of the season.
The Lions started the second half brightly and took the lead in the 54th minute.
Steve Morison fed Aiden O’Brien and his low shot from
22 yards flew into the bottom left-hand corner.
Hull grabbed a point with a rare foray forward in the
73rd minute.
Bowen’s deep corner was turned back towards goal by Jordy De Wijs and Markus Henriksen headed in from just a couple of yards out.
City boss Nigel Adkins said: “It’s a good point away from home. Millwall’s always a challenging place to come to, so we knew we’d have to be competitive.
“We had to hang in there and it underlines the spirit we have amongst the team.”
ENGLAND defender James Tarkowski reached the dizzy heights of Burnley’s joint top league goalscorer with his scrappy winner against Brighton.
That took his tally to three, the same number as Sam Vokes.
It was priceless all the same as the Clarets climbed out of the Premier League’s bottom three – much to the relief of everyone at Turf Moor.
It may have been a day more suited to the Seagulls with a wintry downpour dousing the sodden pitch.
But Sean Dyche’s battlers could finally ride the crest of a wave after losing their last three games on home soil.
The Clarets boss breathed a huge sigh of relief and heartily applauded his players for digging in and grinding out a morale-boosting result.
“It’s been a tough early period of the season,” he said.
“But we’re kind of getting back to where we should be. We have to play better than we did today but there’s relief because we have been on a tough run.
“There was that bit of nervousness. You have got to find a way to win and we know we can do better.”
Brighton boss Chris Hughton had been unbeaten in all six of his previous league games against Burnley as a manager.
But he was left to curse his luck with just one shot on target all day from his lacklustre side.
He said: “I thought we were the better team but we conceded a scrappy goal. I’m disappointed.
“But we didn’t do enough in the first half to really force that goal.” Hughton can say that again. Burnley keeper Joe Hart, on his 400th Premier League appearance, did not have a save to make in a listless opening 45 minutes. And we had to wait until the half-hour mark before Brighton’s goal was threatened.
That came when Iceland midfielder Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s well-flighted ball found Robbie Brady, but the winger volleyed wide.
Then Chris Wood almost squeezed in the opener but could not beat Seagulls keeper Mat Ryan at the near post.
Brady had another go in the 35th minute but Ryan was alert to save once more before Brighton finally closed in on Hart’s goal.
Ashley Westwood carelessly passed across the box and Anthony Knockaert happily collected. However, all he could do was waste the gift by blazing a shot over the crossbar.
Five minutes before the break Burnley at last broke the deadlock when Brighton failed to clear their lines and Jack Cork’s drive was deflected in by Tarkowski.
The Clarets looked to press on as the second half started with a flurry.
But they suffered a scare in the 59th minute when skipper Ben Mee attempted a clearance and sliced the ball into Hart’s arms.
Order was nearly restored when Tarkowski almost claimed a second.
The defender met Westwood’s corner perfectly and was inches away with a glancing header.
It looked plain sailing as torrential rain swept across Turf Moor but there should have been a late equaliser for Brighton.
Striker Glenn Murray delivered the perfect cross for fellow sub Jurgen Locadia but he put a point-blank header over the top with the goal at his mercy.
And that signalled a final frantic burst from Hughton’s men with Hart pulling off a late save from that man Murray.