GARY Rowett admitted it was as much “luck” as “judgement” that Millwall didn’t receive a red card in last season’s Championship.
The Lions were one of three teams along with Barnsley and Huddersfield Town that managed to keep 11 players on the pitch for all 46 league games.
Remarkably, it was the second consecutive season in which Millwall didn’t receive a straight red card, matching Swansea City and Reading in 2020-21.
The last Lions player to be sent off in the league was Murray Wallace for two bookings in a 2-1 defeat to Coventry City at The Den in January 2021.
The last Millwall player to receive a straight red card in a Championship fixture was Shaun Williams in a 0-0 draw at Stoke City in January 2020.
The Lions were seventh in the 2021-22 Fair Play table. Reading were top and Steve Morison’s Cardiff City were officially the dirtiest team in the league last season as they finished bottom of the pile.
Rowett was asked if there was a strict approach to discipline in the last campaign.
“It’s not something we mentioned,” Rowett said. “The way we tend to play, at home, the players have been disciplined enough. But they have maintained their competitive nature, certainly in the home games in front of the crowd when it’s really competitive.
“We’re a pretty honest team and we were fortunate enough this season to do that.
“I think there’s also a little bit of luck as well as judgement because you know what it’s like. I saw the Everton game [against Brentford] where the defender [Jarrad Branthwaite] makes just one error and he gets sent off.
“It’s so easily done in today’s game because of the pace of it.”