Video: Christiansen working on solutions for Leeds United's shortfalls

Christiansen praised his side’s effort after they recovered from a 2-0 half-time deficit and the loss of captain Liam Cooper to a red card to lead 3-2 with three minutes of normal time to play but he refused to take any consolation after Millwall silenced Elland Road with two late goals.

Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s brace and a Kemar Roofe tap-in inspired a sensational fightback at Elland Road as United fought back from a seemingly hopeless position at the interval but Millwall rallied and snatched three points at the death with strikes from ex-Leeds academy forward Tom Elliott and Jed Wallace.

Christiansen described the response in the second half as “amazing” but insisted he “could not be satisfied” with Leeds down in 10th place in the Championship and three points off the play-off positions.

United have taken one point from their last four league games and incurred a red card in each of their last three outings, the latest shown to Cooper for a 37th-minute foul on George Saville on Saturday. Leeds had suffered a 1-0 loss to Ipswich Town seven days earlier following the first-half dismissal of Eunan O’Kane.

Christiansen admitted he was losing patience, saying: “A lot of credit to the team in the second half, as we did against Ipswich, but again we don’t take anything so we cannot be satisfied. We did not take anything with us.

“Yes, the fans saw the big effort the team made. That’s correct but in football I prefer to play like s**t and take three points. This is football and we need to learn from our mistakes. I’m not happy and we need to work even stronger.”

Lasogga’s two-goal blitz, coming after he failed to convert two clear chances while the game was goalless in the first half, was a return to form for a striker whose contribution has been questioned since he joined Leeds on a season-long loan from Hamburg in December.

The German’s initial strike on 46 minutes was his first since October, taking his tally for the term to seven, but his display in the second half drove a rousing performance for Leeds until he left the field seven minutes from the end.

United have been under pressure to sign a new centre-forward in this window but Christiansen said: “Everyone said we need a striker. Here, you have a striker - two goals.

“Okay he could have scored in the first half and we avoid perhaps the red card but that is only to put down something negative because he made a very good game. I cannot demand more.”

Leeds came under pressure after Lasogga was replaced by Conor Shaughnessy and were left without a striker following Christiansen’s decision to withdraw Roofe 10 minutes earlier.

Christiansen revealed that a tiring Roofe had asked to be replaced and said Lasogga had run out of steam on his first league start since November. Millwall levelled at 3-3 through Elliott 87th-minute strike before Wallace forced a win with a deflected finish in the second minute of injury-time.

“(Lasogga) was finished and couldn’t walk,” Christiansen said. “You see the effort that he did. My intention was also to leave Roofey (on the pitch) but he came to me and said ‘are you going to make a change?’

“I can appreciate a player who is exhausted because he cannot do any more.

“That means he has given everything. I want them to give everything and when thy cannot give more, they ask for a change and another player comes in.”

Millwall had taken a two-goal lead in the first half through Aiden O’Brien and Lee Gregory guiding home crosses from former United player Steve Morison.

Morison - remembered in Leeds with little fondness after an unimpressive move to Elland Road in 2013 - crossed swords with the home crowd and provoked an angry reaction by goading the Kop after both of Millwall’s first half strikes.

“I thought I played well and it’s a shame the Leeds fans never got to see me play like that,” Morison said. “That’s what I can do but I never did it for them so I can understand their frustration towards me.

“It was pantomime stuff and I got a couple of good assists. I was getting plenty of stick and they never like it when it’s turned on its head, do they?

“That might be an amazing game for the fans but that’s not an amazing game to play in. You don’t want to play football like that. You shouldn’t have to score four goals just to win a game, especially when you’re 2-0 up against ten men.”

Asked why Leeds had failed to see the best of him, Morison said bluntly: “Because I was crap when I played here.”