Neil Harris admitted today’s late collapse at Brentford was hard to take after Millwall threw away a  2-0 lead in west London.

The Lions looked on course for a first victory under Harris’ stewardship after Lee Gregory’s 28th minute opener was added to by Aiden O’Brien’s 64th minute close range header.

But with the clock ticking down, the Bees were back in it five minutes from time after Alan Judge was fouled in the box and Alex Pritchard stepped up to score from the spot.

And there was heartbreak for Millwall in stoppage time as Moses Odubajo struck an equaliser to leave Millwall still on course for relegation to League One.

Interim boss Harris said: “I’m gutted for my players certainly.

“I felt they were outstanding again and at 2-0 up with  five or six minutes to go you expect to see the game out definitely.

“I think it is probably where we are at at the moment as a club, albeit against a really good footballing team, a really creative team, I still expect my players to see the game out.

“It didn’t happen so yes we are down, we pick ourselves up for the next huge game (v Charlton) but certainly again positives were there for everyone to see.”

Despite the late drama, one big positive from today was the useful looking strike partnership between goal scorers Gregory and O’Brien.

Harris said: “I’m delighted with his (Gregory’s) goal, not just the goal but the movement, the passing, the through ball – he has deserved that goal.

“He is a top, top player, he has got outstanding movement and he is an excellent finisher.

“In the way we are playing he will score lots of goals for this club in the future.

“Obviously Aiden O’Brien’s goal as well was an outstanding goal, an outstanding move a great ball in the box and a terrific header.

“It is really important for him for his first goal in professional football.”

Explaining his decision to pair the young duo together Harris added: “We just changed it slightly up front.

“Gary Taylor-Fletcher has done really well for us and he is a great link on the pitch.

“We’ve just felt that we can hurt Brentford with two strikers staying high up the pitch and it obviously worked for 85 minutes.

“Undoubtedly we rode our luck a little bit before that but could easily have been three up as well.

“Unfortunately a good bit of skill cost us a penalty.

“Then you are thinking ‘Come on boys just stay strong and see it out’.

“But teams at the bottom that ball gets cleared in the box, it could go to anybody or anywhere but it falls straight to a good player who puts the ball in the net.”

Harris praised play-off hopefuls Brentford but pointed out his own keeper had deserved better.

“They are a really good side, a really good footballing team, certainly a benchmark for where we want to get to as a club.

“They are exciting, they move the ball well, they’ve got end product.

“We knew we would have to defend well and we knew that the keeper is going to have to have a good game to try and get something out of it.

“David Forde deserved really to be on the winning team.”

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt