Monday 6 October 2014 11:47, UK
Manager Ian Holloway scoffed at suggestions Millwall were 'a club in crisis' after a gritty and focussed performance against Derby gave them only their second point in six matches.
Suggestions of crisis began to appear after Millwall lost 3-1 at home to Birmingham in midweek, a result that came after defeats to Huddersfield, Reading and Ipswich in three of their previous four outings.
However, speaking after his side held high-flying Derby to a goalless draw at Pride Park, Holloway said: "The papers may like to use that word but crisis is not a word I recognise where football is concerned. Crisis is what is happening to people who go out to work for Christian Aid and lose their life.
"I have a supportive chairman. He won't be talking about a crisis today and he didn't mention the word crisis in midweek because he knows the truth about our situation and he knows what I am trying to achieve here.
"Of course I'm happy to get a point here because a club like Millwall shouldn't be coming to a place like Derby, with their history and support and resources, and expecting to get anything.
"The reason we have got something to show for our efforts is that one or two people stepped forward and showed things we hadn't been seeing from them in recent matches."
Derby looked full of attacking purpose early on as Jamie Ward twice went close inside the first three minutes, but Millwall had vehement appeals for a penalty rejected in the 10th minute when striker Lee Gregory went down under a lunging challenge from Cyrus Christie.
Derby's supporters were equally outraged when Jordon Ibe was booked for diving after going down under a full-stretch challenge from Millwall keeper David Forde in the area in the 29th minute, and the game became increasingly testy and scrappy as a result of what appeared to be glaring inconsistencies in referee Mark Haywood's performance.
Derby struggled to produce the sort of fluency that has seen them rise up the Championship table after a stuttering start but Ibe, on loan from Liverpool, and Ward came close to breaking the deadlock before Millwall threatened with a 22-yard effort from Matthew Briggs
Derby began the second half with another spell of unrewarded pressure, prompting early changes from manager Steve McClaren, but their best chance went begging when Ibe, set up inside the box, chose to take a second touch instead of shooting and instead lost possession.
McClaren said: "I thought quite early on that it was going to be a one-nil game but we didn't have the quality to pull it off.
"We lacked quality in the final third, we lacked quality with our final ball, we lacked quality in our finishing; all the things that are usually our strong points.
"I don't think you will watch Derby fail to score in too many matches this season and I have no doubt that this squad will get better as the season progresses and that we have what it takes to challenge at the top again."
