Millwall boss Ian Holloway tells his men they must curb their ‘obsession’

 
Chris Laker22 April 2014

Ian Holloway says Millwall have to learn to deal with expectation after they blew a golden chance to pull further clear of the relegation zone.

Although Holloway’s side extended their unbeaten run to six matches, they failed to break down their resolute relegation rivals despite playing the entire second half with a one-man advantage after Doncaster defender Abdoulaye Meite received a straight red card for a dangerous challenge on Stefan Maierhofer.

The Millwall boss admitted he was “fuming” at his players during the latter stages of the game as they pushed for the winner.

“For me, too many of them looked disappointed and ‘obsessed with the result’,” Holloway said. “You’ve got to learn to manage games, learn to manage expectation and you’ve got to learn to stay in the game in your mind, rather than think about the result and I thought too many of us were doing that at the wrong time.”

Millwall lacked decisiveness in attacking positions as they struggled to produce a performance to match their weekend win at Middlesbrough. Holloway cited tiredness in his players so he is relieved to have until Saturday to prepare for the crunch trip to Queens Park Rangers, a match which will mark a return to Loftus Road for manager Holloway.

“I’ll be buzzing with that fixture — I haven’t been back there for a while,” said Holloway. “I’d like to absolutely smash them all over the place. I’d like to pass them off the park, move the ball around and beat them. Can we do that? Let’s see — what a fantastic challenge. If we can we might be safe after that game.”

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