TRISTAN Crama revealed just how much risk Millwall took in the second half at Ipswich Town – and said it would be impossible to do it for 90 minutes.
The Lions were given the runaround in the opening 45 minutes at Portman Road and could have been more than one goal down against the second-best side at home in the Championship this season.
But Millwall boss Alex Neil changed tactics at the break as well as introducing Mihailo Ivanovic for Macaulay Langstaff, with the visitors going man-to-man against the Tractor Boys all over the pitch.
Kieran McKenna’s side had scored 36 league goals in their own backyard by the half-time break, including Jack Clarke’s low shot that beat goalkeeper Anthony Patterson. But the Lions kept their automatic promotion rivals goalless for the rest of the game and earned a point through Josh Coburn’s third goal in four games.
“It was a game of two halves. If you take the first half we were all disappointed with our performances. But if you take the second half we were all disappointed not to get the three points,” Crama said on Millwall TV.
“We showed our character. The message at half-time was clear: ‘We’ve got nothing to lose now, let’s get out there.’ We basically went one-v-one all over the pitch, we got the goal early [in the second half] and I think we did well until the end of the game. We had some good chances to get all three points, but at this stage of the season every point counts so we’ll take that.
“They have the [second] best record at home this season. They’re one of the best teams in the league. We planned that if we needed a goal we could go two up top and press one-v-one. At the back we went one-v-one – that’s something you cannot do for 90 minutes. It’s very tough, it’s very demanding but we did it for 45 minutes. Everyone was tired at the end of the game. That’s what we needed to do and that’s why I say this group has a lot of character.”
Over 2,000 Lions supporters made the trip to East Anglia to see their side battle back.
Crama said: “They were amazing from the first minute to the last second of the game. Amazing. Wow – we can’t thank them enough for this.”
Neil’s side face another top-two rival next when they travel to the Riverside Stadium to face Middlesbrough on Friday. Crama is learning the piano in his spare time, and he was relieved his break was a relaxed affair and that the squad didn’t have almost two weeks to stew over a poor result.
“It was good to get a point because [normally] in the Championship you’ve got a chance to bounce back straight after,” he said. “But we had two weeks so it was good to get a point.
“We have some rest and then prepare for one of the most important games of the season.”