NEIL Harris has hinted he is not happy with Millwall’s recruitment this summer as he compared the Lions’ bench to Bristol City’s after their 4-3 defeat at Ashton Gate on Saturday.
Millwall came back from 2-0 down for the second weekend in a row and then led 3-2 with twelve minutes left.
But substitutes Fally Mayulu and Scott Twine – both summer signings costing between £3million-£4million each – scored to give Liam Manning’s side a 4-3 win.
Harris hinted at the lack of depth in his squad when he spoke to Nick Godwin of BBC Sport London after the game.
“Poor goals have cost us. What I will say is I praise Bristol City and their bench, that’s made the difference. Look at the impact their bench has brought to the game and look at the group we’re working with at the moment – I’ve got two goalkeepers on my bench,” Harris said.
“Hugely frustrated that for 75 minutes we’re in front albeit we went behind with a couple of really poor goals again. But we got ourselves back in front and we looked really comfortable, we looked the best team.
“Then they bring on two £3million attacking players and make an impact. That is the difference at any level of football, the impact off the bench, but especially in the first week of the season when you can bring on quality like that.
“The players responded brilliantly [to being 2-0 down] and they need help. At 3-2 we’re gassed out, they’ve chased the game, they’ve pressed and pressed and they’ve run out of shape, they’ve got after the ball. You look at the front four, they’re running low. It’s very, very difficult at the moment, very difficult for us.
“I’m asking Romain [Esse] and Duncan [Watmore] to be bright and give us a spark and they are, they’ve scored five goals between them in a week. They’re doing really, really well. But they need help around them. We need more sparks.
“George Honeyman, how good was he again today, his forward movement, his energy. But he needs support.”
The Lions have so far signed only two new outfield players this summer, Japhet Tanganga and Macaulay Langstaff.
Harris was asked when more signings would arrive.
He replied: “Yeah, Nick, I genuinely don’t know. I genuinely don’t know. I don’t know what more to say. I’m the one who has to come out and keep fronting it up. I don’t know what to say.
“You look at Bristol City’s bench and look at ours. Cheers.”
