Harris hits out at his tame Lions
NEIL Harris has called on his Millwall dressing room to stand up and be counted after surrendering a lead in their defeat to Sheffield United.
David McGoldrick’s double condemned the Lions to a seventh winless Championship game, despite Billy Sharp missing a first-half penalty.
The Blades striker atoned to score the opener, but Jake Cooper and Lee Gregory found the net for the hosts within the first five minutes of the second half.
Yet Millwall crumbled as McGoldrick netted twice, the winner with two minutes to go.
“These late goals must be down to concentration in the group and a winning mentality,” said Harris.
“If they want to do their jobs properly, and they want to be considered for team selection, they need to show more leadership and more quality in themselves in key moments.”
A lively opening saw the hosts have a goal disallowed, but United were given a golden chance to go ahead when a cross was adjudged to have been handled by Shaun Williams in the penalty area.
Sharp stepped up, but Ben Amos’ superb save saw the ball tipped on to the bar.
Sharp redeemed himself five minutes before the break, opening the scoring with a glancing header for his fifth league goal of the season.
Millwall fans voiced their disappointment at the break, but the second half was a different matter, Cooper heading home from a corner two minutes after the restart to level the contest.
And just three minutes later the Lions were ahead for the first time when Ryan Leonard lobbed a ball behind the Blades backline for Gregory to poke home from the left side of the six-yard box into the far corner.
Spurred on by their fans’ vocal support, Millwall smothered United, but the hard work was undone when Aiden O’Brien clattered into Mark Duffy from behind for the visitors’ second penalty of the game.
With Sharp removed from spot-kick duties, McGoldrick calmly stepped up and sent Amos the wrong way.
United weren’t done there, with just two minutes left on the clock when McGoldrick stabbed home from close range, benefitting from sloppy defending to tap in from just three yards.
Millwall pushed in the latter stages, but couldn’t equalise for a second time in the game, still holding just one win from the Championship season.
United boss Chris Wilder felt it should have been easier for his side. “It shouldn’t have been a nail-biter,” he admitted.
“We had to be right at it. For five minutes we weren’t and we got punished. But for the majority of time we were and we all played our part in what I believe was a deserved victory.
“If we’d have walked away with two each I would have been delighted with the way we played. Credit to them.
“The momentum is gone, the place is rocking and it’s changed from a comfortable afternoon to one that’s going to be difficult.
“I’m just glad we don’t have to come here because it is such a difficult place to play. No doubt they’ll get a result and they’ll be up and running.”