KENNY Jackett blasted his Millwall side for their poor first half performance after going down 3-1 at home to Middlesbrough last night.

The visitors raced into a 2-0 lead, with Marvin Emnes twice profiting from some woeful defending before Darius Henderson halved the deficit just before half-time.

Henderson’s goal gave the relegation-threatened Lions some hope but despite a much-improved second half display, Millwall couldn’t find the leveller and sub Curtis Main lashed in a third against the run of play late on to seal maximum points for Boro.

“It was a game of two halves,” said Jackett after the game.

“We were very poor in the first half.

“Physically we weren’t strong enough and didn’t compete.

“The left side of our back four got bullied and lost every header and from every set piece in the first half Middlesbrough looked capable of scoring.

“We were deservedly behind but got a lifeline with Darius’ header and had a real go in the second half.

“I thought the subs, Alan Dunne and Jimmy Abdou, made an impact and we looked capable of getting something out of game for the majority of second half.

“But we couldn’t find that goal we needed to get back to 2-2.”

Jackett added: “We did fight back and show some spirit and we were unlucky to lose the second half 1-0, but we can’t give ourselves a mountain to climb.

“We have to tighten up at the back and eradicate some really poor goals we’re giving away and in midfield we need to compete.

“It’s a poor run we’ve had at home now but we have to bounce back on Saturday (away to Burnley) and base our performance on what we did in the second half.”

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