Millwall 3-0 Rotherham: Lions win to go fourth in Championship

Millwall forward Tom Bradshaw (centre) celebrates opening the scoring

Millwall ended their sequence of three consecutive home draws with a victory that moved them up to fourth in the Championship.

Tom Bradshaw scored twice and forced a Cameron Humphreys own goal as the Millers fell into the relegation zone for the first time this season.

The defeat increases the pressure on Rotherham manager Matt Taylor, who has lost nine games out of 15 since taking over in October.

Rotherham were without half a dozen key players and Millwall took advantage to return to the play-off positions with only their third win in nine games.

Bradshaw gave the Lions, without a home win since October 22, the perfect start as he rose above bigger defenders to head the fourth-minute opener from a Callum Styles free-kick.

Keeper Viktor Johansson kept Rotherham in the game with fine saves from Styles, George Honeyman, Shaun Hutchinson and Bradshaw, while the latter blazed over the bar when again set up by Styles.

Conor Washington spurned a great chance to level just before half-time when sent away by Dan Barlaser's fine pass, rounding keeper Bartosz Bialkowski but firing over with only a defender on the goalline to beat.

Johansson was finally beaten by Humphreys' big deflection on a volleyed shot from Bradshaw.

The striker made it six for the season as Zian Flemming and Andreas Voglsammer led a counter-attack, and when the latter's shot was parried by Johansson, Bradshaw snapped up the rebound.

Millwall are now unbeaten in eight games at the New Den but the misery deepens for Taylor.

Millwall manager Gary Rowett said:

"We switched play really well, we made some brilliant runs off the ball and it looked a really proactive performance.

"I can't think of the amount of times that George Honeyman got in behind with a great run or Vogey [Andreas Voglsammer] and Bradders [Tom Bradshaw].

"We worked incredibly hard to open space and that made a big difference to us today.

"It's been a tough one for Rotherham. I've followed their last few games and they've had some key injuries that have made it very difficult for them to remain as competitive as they'd like to.

"They worked incredibly hard - there were a few moments where there were little warning signs. We played so well in the first half to go 1-0 up, but we should've had quite a few more than one."

Rotherham manager Matt Taylor told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"There is no lack of effort from that group of players but there is a lack of quality, and a lack of belief in terms of what we can compete with, and we've come up against a good team.

"There has been a softness, a weakness, a naivety to our defensive play since we came back from the international break.

"No disrespect to the exterior of the squad, it's the nature of the beast at this level. I can't have the fact that they're not trying - they are giving everything but are not executing what's needed to keep us in the game.

"Why have we been relegated three times in six years in terms of coming up to this level? We have to find players who are capable of doing what's needed to keep us in this league - right now it's looking like relegation form.

"Wheels are in motion, we're working towards the targets and trying to get them in the door. We'll have to be quite creative with it because more than realistically it's a loan market and we're limited with how many loan players we can have at one time.

"We also have to be creative with free agents, but we knew this before I took the job. We have to get sure things, players experienced with other clubs at this level."

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