Rowett hails Millwall for gritty victory at Stoke

Gary Rowett praised his Millwall side for ‘grinding out’ victory as they continued their promotion push with a 1-0 win at Stoke.

The ex-Potters boss enjoyed a happy return to Staffordshire as Millwall consolidated their position in the play-offs.

Zian Flemming’s ninth-minute strike – his 11th league goal of the season – proved the winner in a tight contest.

The hosts thought they had levelled when Jacob Brown converted from close range but the forward had strayed offside.

Dwight Gayle squandered two glorious chances for the hosts, but a resolute Millwall held out for victory.

“It was a difficult game for us,” Rowett said.

“We were short of numbers and energy so it was always going to be tough.

“They made it difficult for us to get out. We didn’t play with enough quality to get out, but it was an excellent goal for us.

“We know that Zian’s got the quality and, when you start backing off him as a defender, he’s so clinical and it’s a wonderful finish.

“At that point, I was frustrated with the first half because we didn’t get out with the right energy.

“It felt like we had to grind it out today and it was going to be one of those days on the back of a tough week.

“But this team knows how to grind it out and win games whether it’s ugly or in a good way.

“The three points were really important today and we’ve had to work really hard for them.

“I never really felt that Stoke were going to get an equaliser. We’re very good at defending our box and our centre-halves were outstanding.

“On another day, it might have been a 0-0 but that early goal was important.

“It’s another three points where we’ve shown another side to our game.”

Defeat saw Stoke’s four-match unbeaten home run come to an end as they slumped closer to the relegation zone.

Boss Alex Neil said: “We’ve relived that however many times this season. It’s really frustrating and disappointing.

“Flemming picks up the ball at the halfway line and we don’t engage the ball for whatever reason and it ends up in the back of the net.

“Arguably they’re the worst team at this level that you want that to happen against because they’re content to stay behind the ball and sit deep.

“The minute they scored I knew it was the worst thing that could happen to us in the game because it’s difficult to break them down.

“But, having said that, we certainly had enough in the first half to score and we should have scored at least one.

“We had chances there, but we didn’t take them and we didn’t really test them enough in the second half.

“We wanted to get the first goal because that’s where they’re at their weakest. If we’d have done that, I’d have been really confident that we’d have gone on to win.

“When you don’t, you can sense frustration everywhere, both on the pitch and off the pitch.

“I thought large parts of the game were good, but nobody cares because when you’ve not won the game, that all gets lost.”