Rovers were held to a goalless draw, more so by their own incompetence, rather than a solid defensive rearguard by Millwall, as despite Rovers chalking up 12 total shots to Millwall’s zero, Tony Mowbray’s side were unable to boost their promotion hopes with three valuable points.
After Rovers fell to their tenth defeat of the campaign at the weekend, in their 2-0 loss away at Fulham, Tony Mowbray was forced into making four changes to the side that fell to a defeat down in the nation’s capital. Deyovaisio Zeefuik and Reda Khadra were ruled out of the rescheduled tie due to injuries, whilst Bradley Johnson and Tyrhys Dolan were named on the bench in a bid to rotate the squad and keep everyone fresh. With those outgoings, in came Joe Rankin-Costello, Joe Rothwell for his 100th Rovers start, John Buckley and Sam Gallagher, whilst youngster Jack Vale was named on the bench for the first time this season.
Following the pre-match formalities, it was Rovers who got the game underway at 7:45pm, through John Buckley, after referee Dean Whitestone blew his whistle. Rovers were looking to take the initiative ahead of three home games on the bounce – starting tonight – in order to get back to winning ways and keep their playoff push alive.
The first 10 minutes lacked any real quality ahead of goal, despite Rovers holding a majority of the possession, but the game’s first real chance fell to Joe Rankin-Costello who should have opened his tally for the season. The full-back bombed forward and played a one-two with John Buckley, but the pairing couldn’t manufacture the opener straight from the academy, as Rankin-Costello’s effort dragged wide of the mark.
In the 19th minute, Jan Paul van Hecke connected with Ryan Giles’ inviting corner, but the Dutchman – who was recently called up to the under-23’s Dutch squad – couldn’t angle his nod on target.
Seven minutes later, Rovers again moved forwards and struck fear into Millwall. John Buckley showed his quality as he picked up the ball on the edge of the Millwall area, before twisting and turning and finding a gap to release an effort that crashed back off the woodwork.
The 28th minute saw Rovers continue to show their dominance as they managed their first attempt at target. Sam Gallagher was able to craft an opportunity from distance as he lasered an effort towards goal that proved simple for Bartosz Białkowski to gather.
John Buckley was again showing his guile in picking out teammates, as his deep cross towards Sam Gallagher at the back-post, narrowly saw the forward miss the target via his connection with the ball, as the ball dropped behind for a goal-kick.
In the 41st minute, Jake Cooper was booked for a late tackle on Jan Paul van Hecke.
Despite one minute of time being added onto the end of the half, neither side could get the Ewood Park crowd going, as the official soon brought the goalless first-half to an end.
Tony Mowbray would have been pleased with how his side had dominated the play but would have lamented the fact they had failed to make their dominance pay by getting themselves ahead in the tie. The boss would have spent half-time encouraging his players to continue what they were doing, with the added incentive of riling up the home crowd in their favour in order to whip up the support inside the ground.
Gary Rowett, in contrast, would have been frustrated with his side’s lack of possession and attacking intent, especially given that Millwall had only managed one touch inside the Rovers area all half. Going into the dressing room without an attempt at goal, would have been something the Lions boss would have focussed heavily on, with the intent that such a catastrophic statistic was not to be repeated in the second period.
Ahead of the second period, Millwall made the game’s first change at the break as George Evans replaced Arsenal loanee Daniel Ballard, for the second period.
After both teams came out with their manager’s words ringing in their ears, it was the Lions who got the game back underway, for the second period, as they looked to try and grab all three points in this fixture, which would see them win six on the bounce. The Lions had not won six on the bounce since 2017-18, where they won half a dozen away games in a row, equalling a club record set in 2008-09.
Rovers continued where they’d left off in the first-half, by creating the first opportunity in the second as Ryan Giles burst down the right and cut the ball back for Buckley whose attempt was well saved by Białkowski, as a combination of the Pole in goal and his defenders denied Rovers a tap-in and were forced to concede a corner.
From the set-piece, a short corner gave Rovers a better angle to whip the ball in towards the back-post where Darragh Lenihan’s header flew over the bar.
A second Millwall change soon came in the 57th minute as Tyler Burey was withdrawn from the field and replaced by Alex Pearce.
In the 64th minute, Joe Rothwell went on one of his trademark mazy runs into the box and went down under the pressure of outstretched Millwall legs, but referee Dean Whitestone was not convinced and waved play on.
Two minutes later, Jed Wallace was booked for a foul on Sam Gallagher.
The 72nd minute saw another yellow card emerge for Millwall, as George Saville scythed into Lewis Travis inside the Rovers half.
In the 77th minute, Tony Mowbray made a double substitution in the hope that Rovers could finally make their dominance count during the final 13 or so minutes, as Tyrhys Dolan and Ryan Hedges came on to replace Ryan Giles and John Buckley.
Both sides soon made their final chances in the 84th minute as Rovers threw on Jack Vale for Sam Gallagher, whilst Millwall introduced Mason Bennett for Benik Afobe.
In the 86th minute, Ryan Hedges saw an attempt from the edge of the area blocked behind for a corner.
From the corner taken by Harry Pickering, Scott Wharton was the target as the academy graduate’s looping header saw Białkowski forced to tip the ball over the crossbar for another corner, which Millwall soon relieved of the pressure as they were soon awarded a free-kick inside their own box.
Just prior to the four minutes of added time being allocated, van Hecke was booked after a desperate challenge by the Dutchman halted a Millwall counter-attack.
As Rovers pushed forward in the closing stages of the game, they were unable to craft the killer opportunity that would have made all their efforts worth it.
There’s very little one can say about a game like tonight. Everything went in our favour, bar the goals, despite the fact Rovers could have easily had a penalty through the foul on Rothwell. Mowbray’s side huffed and puffed, but a combination of luck and poor attacking nous failed to see Millwall’s defence breached, despite the Lions not really posing a threat at either end of the field. This game will definitely add to the doom and gloom surrounding Ewood Park, given that Rovers have only scored three goals in the league, since the turn of the year, and Tony Mowbray will be looking to quickly turn things around given Rovers still have two home games on the bounce to contend with.
Although Rovers were not the only team in the playoffs to play tonight, they haven’t really been damaged by their failure to pot the ball. Mowbray’s men still sit in the playoff place, in 4th position, but have lost their game in hand over Huddersfield Town. The Blues have 58 points and keep their goal-difference of +10 but sit four points off 2nd placed Bournemouth.
Speaking of the aforementioned two home games on the bounce, Rovers host Bristol City on Saturday 12th March, at 3pm, before the arrival of Wayne Rooney’s Derby County a week from tonight, on Tuesday 15th March at 7:45pm. Following the back-to-back home games, Rovers make the long trip down to Berkshire to face Reading on Saturday 19th March at 3pm.
