Tony Craig bemoaned Millwall’s slow start to the play-off final against Barnsley after the Tykes secured promotion to the Championship at Wembley.

The Lions conceded after only 88 seconds as Manchester United loanee Ashley Fletcher rifled a shot past Jordan Archer.

And Neil Harris’ side found themselves two goals behind on 19 minutes when Adam Hammill curled a 25-yard strike into the top corner.

Millwall reduced the deficit through Mark Beevers but a second-half Lloyd Isgrove header put the contest to bed.

Craig admitted the Lions gave themselves too much to do after their poor start to the game.

He said: “We got off to a really slow start and Barnsley took advantage of it.

“It was an uphill battle from there. But we showed good character to get back into it, it just didn’t drop for us today.

“On days like this you’ve just got to give the opposition credit. They did a job on us and they were victorious.

“We can take nothing away from them and just have to congratulate them.”

Craig was initially named as a Millwall substitute but Byron Webster, who had been nursing a hamstring problem all week, pulled up in the warm-up.

His absence provided Craig with only his fifth appearance since suffering a knee injury which kept him sidelined for almost seven months.

The 31-year-old said: “Ideally I would have liked a few more games under my belt.

“That was my first 90 minutes in seven months which is a long, long time.

“It was unfortunate for Webby but I had to adjust quickly and get my mind ready for the game.”

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