KENNY Jackett admitted he was stunned by Sheffield Wednesday’s smash and grab 2-1 victory over Millwall at The Den this evening.
The Lions’ poor home form returned to haunt them again as subsititute Chris Maguire scored the stoppage time winner for the Owls which had looked unlikely for long periods in a game the hosts largely controlled.
Jimmy Abdou gave Millwall the perfect start by firing them in front as early as the second minute.
But Wednesday were right back in it late in the first half as Miguel Llera smashed home a free-kick and although the visitors failed to cause the home defence too many problems, they kept in contention and managed to win it at the death.
Jackett said: “Sheffield Wednesday are a big side and good at set pieces.
“We’ve conceded two from set pieces.
“I haven’t seen the first one again but it just seemed like David missed the flight of the ball.
“He has had a magnificent season, he has been excellent for us.
“And then the second one we conceded from a corner where perhaps we were sleeping at the near post, the runner came out and lost his man and shouldn’t have got across us there.
“It was a smart finish by Maguire.
“For large parts of the game I felt we were in control.
“I thought Abdou and St Ledger were excellent in midfield and gave us a lot of control and we let Sheffield Wednesday off the hook.
“That’s how I feel by the end.”
The Millwall boss added: “I know there were one or two refereeing decisions.
“Certainly Easter seemed to get across Gardner in the first half, it could have been a red card and Kirkland played very well in the second half.
“I appreciate that but your defenders and your defensive set up get you points away from home but at home your forwards win you the games and that was a winnable game that we were in control of.
“We got an early goal at home and really should have strode on and won that game.
“It was a poor loss for us in terms of our home form because while we had control and we had possession we didn’t do enough in the opposition box and that’s a frustration for me.
“On the plus side I thought that Shaun Batt and James Henry coming on both made good impressions.
“I’m pleased that both of those guys coming back into the side have helped us and helped our options going forward.”
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