SWANSEA ended Millwall’s Championship play-off hopes with victory at The Den on Saturday and Lions boss Kenny Jackett admitted his side had been beaten by the better team.

Millwall were outplayed for much of the game and goals from Darren Pratley and Stephen Dobbie ensured the Lions wouldn’t reach the play-offs for a third year in a row.

However, Jackett accepted defeat gracefully, despite conceding his side hadn’t played to their full potential.

“I thought we were beaten by the better side,” he said after the game.

“We were playing against a very good team and couldn’t get enough going forward in either half.

“There were a couple of efforts in the second half from Hameur Bouazza and James Henry, but we needed to do more going forward.”

Jackett added: “I was waiting for it to come.

“Our wide men have been very good of late but we didn’t get the ball to them and I didn’t think they had their full energy.

“They’ve been doing the damage for us, although the full backs didn’t necessarily join in.

“Having said that, Scott Barron had his hands full with Nathan Dyer – a very good winger.”

The Lions may have fallen short of a play-off spot but they have still enjoyed an impressive first season back in the Championship after winning promotion from League One last term, a fact not lost on Jackett.

“We are disappointed but we’ve had a lot of very big games recently where we’ve needed to win to keep our season going and today was one too far,” he added.

“But there are some very good clubs at the top end of the Championship, so for us to keep it [Millwall’s season] alive until after Easter is a very good effort.

“We’ve had some terrific games against the top six sides and some good results but the depth of our squad compared to others may have been the difference.”

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