Millwall 2-1 Aston Villa: Kevin McDonald warns players after defeat at Lions
- Published
Tammy Abraham volleys ahead Villa despite the attentions of Millwall defender Jake Cooper - but the visitors could not hold on to their lead
Caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald warned Aston Villa's players they need to "tidy up" their performances after seeing them beaten by Millwall despite taking an early lead.
Tammy Abraham gave MacDonald the perfect start to his third spell as Villa's temporary boss, cleverly steering home Conor Hourihane's free-kick on the volley after just seven minutes.
But the first match since Steve Bruce was sacked then turned sour with Shane Ferguson and Tom Elliott earning victory for the Lions.
"I think there are lots of things the new manager will need to address," MacDonald said.
"All the players, individually, need to tidy themselves up. The team as a group need to tidy themselves up.
"There are individual mistakes from a different player each game. I'm sure it will get tidied up very quickly. If it does, this team will go up the table very quickly."
Millwall - winless in eight before Saturday - responded well to Abraham's opener and deservedly levelled when Ferguson fired home Jake Cooper's knockdown.
Elliott's second-half strike completed the turnaround to lift the Londoners out of the relegation zone and leave Villa with just one win in their past 10 Championship games.
With James Chester's suspension and Mile Jedinak's hamstring injury leaving makeshift pair Alan Hutton and Axel Tuanzebe at the centre of Villa's defence, MacDonald opted for pragmatism further forward to protect his back four.
That meant Villa's bench featured an array of attacking talent - worth more than £50m based on their most recent transfer fees.
But the defensive approach failed to pay dividends as, despite Abraham's early opener, Villa again failed to add to their solitary league clean sheet this season.
After Ferguson's leveller, Villa were relieved to get to half-time at 1-1 as Millwall's Shaun Williams had a goal-bound shot blocked by Manchester United loanee Tuanzebe and whistled another strike just over from 30 yards.
More poor defending just three minutes into the second half allowed Elliott to drill the hosts in front after Villa failed to clear Ferguson's cross.
And despite a brief Villa rally - in which James Bree nodded inches wide - Neil Harris' Lions could have won by more as a Williams header crashed back off the bar.
The victory was only Millwall's second Championship win of the season and lifted them to 20th, leaving whoever succeeds Bruce at Villa Park with much to ponder.
Millwall manager Neil Harris:
"It's a nice feeling. The players deserved that; they worked tirelessly.
"We dug in, we showed character to come from behind again. We played like a Millwall team at the Den, and that's important.
"Sometimes you have to go back to basics, remind players what they're good at, remind the team what individuals are good at.
"I've talked about individuals not being good enough, up to their own standards, but the last two games everyone who's gone on the pitch has played to the best of their ability."
Aston Villa caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald:
"In the first half we started reasonably well and having scored the goal we thought we were in control.
"But we knew we were always going to be under pressure from set-pieces at Millwall.
"They got themselves back into the game and scored a good goal to equalise and we never really started in the second half."