Jimmy Abdou

Kenny Jackett was pleased with his half-time substitutes

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Millwall manager Kenny Jackett hailed his half time substitutes Alan Dunne and Jimmy Abdou after their 3-1 defeat to Middlesbrough.

Boro took a 15th minute lead through Marvin Emnes but could have gone ahead earlier has Lukas Jutkiewitz found the target earlier.

Emnes doubled his tally 20 minutes later before Darius Henderson pulled a goal back just before half-time.

The Lions dominated the second half but were undone by Curtis Main’s late strike.

“We had a real good go (in the second-half),” Jackett said. “I thought the substitutes made an impact but we couldn’t find that goal.

“We looked capable of getting something out of the game in the second-half.”

“We were unlucky to lose the second half 1-0.”

However, the Lions manager was unhappy with his side’s first-half performance.

“We were very poor, we were physically not strong enough and we got bullied,” Jackett added.

“Every set piece in the first half Middlesbrough looked like scoring and we didn’t compete.

“Darius’ header just before the break gave us a lifeline

“We have to look at ourselves, we weren’t competitive enough or strong enough in the first half.

“We can’t give ourselves a mountain to climb like that, but we did fight back with some spirit.

Millwall have not won at home in the league since their 1-0 win over Portsmouth on Boxing Day, five games ago, and have only won twice at The Den in their last 10 games there.

“It’s a poor run we’ve had at home, a very poor run,” Jackett conceded.

“We haven’t played well enough at home over a 95 minute period. We’ve had spells when we’ve been on top in the second half.”