Millwall manager Gary Rowett has admitted that Jamie Shackleton's omission from his last two teams is unfair.

Leeds loanee Shackleton played in 10 of the club's 11 opening games in the Championship so far this season.

However, the team struggled with a back five, with Rowett reverting to a back four in the past two matches.

He said, “I think Shacks has been in really good form. It's more a formation change that led to him being out of the starting line-up, which feels a little bit unfair that that's happened, but I've had to pick the team and roll with that to see where it goes.

“All of those players are going to be a massive part of what we're doing, all of them will be needed to be ready when they come back into the team. Most managers will say exactly the same: the hardest part of management is leaving players out that have worked really hard all week and don't feel like they've got a chance to do their job on a Saturday.

“In no line of business would you feel like you're sacking someone on a Friday and then having to reemploy them again on a Monday, that's how it feels. Of course, that's what any healthy squad needs in this division and we need that competition for places.

“The problem is that only 11 players can play and there's always going to be five or six players that are really, really disappointed with not playing. You can't avoid that, all you can do is give players the opportunity to stay in the team when they get the chance."