Millwall boss Neil Harris claims referee Andre Marriner believed he was “excellent” during the first-half of the Lions’ 3-0 defeat to Fulham.

Youngster Ryan Sessegnon put the visitors into the lead 41 seconds after the restart while Kevin McDonald and on-loan Newcastle United striker Aleksandar Mitrovic finished the cruising win.

But the Millwall manager praised the opposition and refused to heap blame on the referee as the cause of his side’s loss, which ended their 17-game unbeaten league run.

When asked about a Tim Cahill foul late in the second-half which allegedly involved his elbow, Harris said: “I didn’t see an elbow, I was on the other side of the pitch.

“The referee [Andre Marriner] thought he had an excellent first-half so presumably he thought he made the right decision on that as well.

“I thought there was a lot of protection for Fulham from the referee in the first-half. I thought he could have let a lot more go, but as he pointed out to me at half-time he thought he was ‘excellent’ in the first-half.

“Open quotes, he was ‘excellent’, closed quotes.”

Harris still credited the opposition for their performance and said it was the timing of the three goals that killed his team’s momentum and chances of a comeback.

Midfielder McDonald struck an April Goal of the Month contender while substitute and Chelsea loanee Tomas Kalas fed Mitrovic through for the final strike.

Harris added: “They’re a good team, a really good team with really good players. But we were much better than them in the first-half tonight.

“They’ve been on a great run, same as us. If they had performed in the first three months like they have since then they would be top of the league by a mile.

“It’s about doing it over the course of the season, it just goes to show how well Cardiff and Wolves have played to be above Fulham.”