Sean Murray has given an honest assessment of Town’s 1-0 defeat to Millwall on Boxing Day.
The Reds were put to the sword at The Den yesterday thanks to a Lee Gregory brace, and will now be looking to bounce back away at MK Dons on Friday.
And Murray, who was handed a start against the Lions, admitted that Town’s performance was far from good enough.
“We wasn’t good enough. When we tried to move the ball we were a bit sloppy, there were times when we did move it quite well but there wasn’t enough of that,” he said.
“The main thing that affected us was the battles and we didn’t win many of the first balls and we were slow to get to the second balls.
“It wasn’t the best of performances and we need to improve.
“I don’t think it is the energy, I think it is trying to win those battles and having the aggression to go in and win the headers and the second balls.
“It is a bit worrying but we’ll be working on that and trying to improve.
“When we do start playing well and making it difficult for teams then we need to maintain that and keep working on moving the ball quickly.
“The space against Millwall was mainly on the wings so we had to get it there quickly but our final ball and aggression around the box was missing. We could have nicked a goal back and made it easier for ourselves but we didn’t do that.
“When we know we’re doing well we have to keep that tempo up because it is affecting the other team, they’re chasing us and getting tired so we can’t let it drop because that’s when the game will die down a bit and their crowd will not get on their backs as much which will help them.”
Murray was restored to Town’s starting XI yesterday and felt he did okay, but knows he can improve certain areas of his game.
“I’ve been working hard in training to get back in the team because I know if you train well then you will get a chance to play,” he added.
“I think I did okay against Millwall but as a team we weren’t great and it is something we need to work on.
“I know myself I can always improve on everything and I’ll definitely be trying to do that.
“It was quite difficult to get on the ball higher up and I had to drop in anyway so having that deeper starting position made it easier to get on the ball.”
