Millwall caretaker head coach David Livermore was left frustrated after his side were defeated 2-1 at Norwich City on Boxing Day.
The South Londoners were 2-0 down at the break – Emiliano Marcondes and Oscar Schwartau on target – but did manage to pull a goal back in the second half thanks to Romain Esse.
“The dressing room was disappointed because we felt, certainly, second half and for large parts of the first half that we carried a threat,” said Livermore. “We felt we were in the game.
“To win the second half (in terms of scoring the only goal in that period) we are disappointed we’ve come away with nothing from the game. There were a lot of positives to take as well.
“Once we scored we thought we had a chance in the game.
“The opposition went into protection mode, so there was an opportunity for us. That’s where the disappointment is for us, because there was an opportunity to take something from the game. We have to get over it very quickly as we have another game in three days’ time. There is no time to be disappointed.”
Livermore named a front four of Esse, Femi Azeez, Aidomo Emkahu and Mihalio Ivanovic – all aged 23 or younger.
Esse got himself on the scoresheet with a fine second-half finish, the 19-year-old’s fifth goal of the season.
“It’s the youngest front four that have played for this football club for a long time, the lads will be better for that experience today,” said Livermore. “Rom set himself a target over the summer and you can sense over the last few weeks he was getting a bit twitchy, because he hadn’t scored or assisted for a while.
“So for him to get the goal today will be a confidence booster for him.”
Emakhu was forced off just 13 minutes into the game with Livermore unsure on the extent of the Irishman’s injury.
Livermore said. “I’m really disappointed for him.
“He was excellent against Blackburn and deserved the chance to start today. We haven’t done a full assessment yet but he felt his groin, we will have to see how that settles down in the next few days.”
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