Alex Neil was left frustrated by his Millwall team, saying they were the better side during their 0-0 draw with Hull City in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final. 

In a cagey affair at MKM Stadium on Friday, both sides had their chances, the first of which fell to Mohamed Belloumi, who rattled the woodwork inside the first two minutes. 

Both teams struggled in the first half, but the contest became more open after the break as Millwall saw Camiel Neghli hit the right post in the 69th minute.

Ryan Leonard thought he had helped Millwall take an advantage into next Monday's second leg five minutes from time, but his effort was ruled out for a foul inside the area. 

Millwall looked the more threatening on the counter but were unable to turn those breaks into goals as they finished the contest having had 15 shots, nine more than Hull, though both sides finished with the same expected goals (xG) total of 0.56. 

"I thought we were the better side, so I'm probably not satisfied if I'm being honest, just because we were better in the game – they didn't really risk the ball," Neil told Sky Sports.

"We could have moved the ball better and Barry Bannan coming on gave us more of a stranglehold in the game.

"If you'd said at the start of the season we'd have one game at home to get us to a play-off final, and it's all square, I'd have taken it."

Neil was also asked about Leonard's chalked off goal, with referee Gavin Ward disallowing it after he felt Tristan Crama had fouled Charlie Hughes before the ball went in. 

"I thought it was really soft, both lads were at it, so it'll be interesting to see Gavin's thoughts on it when he watches it back," Neil added. 

"Throughout the game he let a lot of things go, but it'll be interesting to get his thoughts on it. I'm sure he'll say he thought it was a foul."

Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic, however, felt a draw was a fair result, though he acknowledged the difficulties his team will face in three days time at The Den. 

Having seen top scorer Oliver McBurnie restricted to very little, Jakirovic decided to replace Liam Millar with Yu Hirakawa, and he almost made an instant impact when his cross picked out the Scottish forward, who headed wide.

McBurnie did have an effect on the game, though, finishing the contest with team-high totals for duels won (eight), aerial duels won (five) and touches in the opposition box (three), while only Lewie Coyle (13) played more passes in the final third than his 11. 

"It was what we expected, a big battle all over the pitch, for every duel and every challenge," Jakirovic said. 

"We had the best chance at the start of the game. I was thinking it was a goal. We tried to play long balls, and maybe we could create something, but they handled it well."

"Second half, we tried to push more. For 70 minutes, we did that and had chances. After the substitutions, they had better control and possession, especially with Bannan."