Millwall pile misery on winless Sheffield United

Millwall players celebrate Luke Cundle's winner at Bramall Lane

Millwall piled pressure on Sheffield United manager Ruben Selles by edging a tight game 1-0 at Bramall Lane to leave the Blades still winless this season.

A first-half strike from Millwall's Luke Cundle and a superb second-half display from goalkeeper Steven Benda, as the Blades searched in vain for an equaliser, proved enough for the Lions to take the points.

It leaves Selles, who replaced Chris Wilder in the summer, still looking for a point following three league defeats and a cup exit at the hands of Birmingham City.

His side sit bottom of the Championship table. Under Wilder, they racked up 90 points last season but lost in the play-off final.

There were boos from the home crowd after a blunt first-half display from the Blades in which Cundle beat the offside trap to score seven minutes before the break.

While the sound of discontent was repeated at the final whistle, Selles' side were unlucky not to come away with at least a point, with the Lions needing a superb display from Benda to post a second win in three league outings.

The Sheffield United boss will draw some positives from an improved second-half display, with Louie Barry and Gus Hamer both being denied by superb saves from Benda, who also tipped over at full stretch to deny Callum O'Hare.

Harrison Burrows struck the inside of a post, only to see the ball rebound across the goalline and out of play, and Tyrese Campbell had a headed effort cleared off the line by Tristan Crama.

Yet the flat start to the campaign from a side who finished last season behind only promoted Leeds and Burnley will not be lost on those in the stands.

Having started the day one place ahead of bottom club and financially troubled rivals Sheffield Wednesday, they are now in 24th spot.

Sheffield United made the brighter start, without troubling Benda in the Millwall goal.

Yet, while there was a suspicion of offside surrounding Cundle's goal, by that point the Lions were good value for the lead.

Indeed they could easily have doubled their advantage when Josh Coburn's long range effort was deflected wide, or when Mihailo Ivanovic miscued a golden chance just before the hour.

It was relentless one-way pressure from the hosts from then on to the final whistle but Millwall managed to keep the Blades out to secure the points.

'Tough one to take' - reaction

Sheffield United boss Ruben Selles told BBC Radio Sheffield:

"It's a tough one to take. In the first half we were not the team we want to be. The second half was completely different and we played a game of football. We created situations to score and recognise the team we want to be.

"I didn't change a bit in the half-time. It was our application that changed.

"Right now we are in a tough situation. But we need to start to show a bit more, especially in the beginnings of the game. We can't wait to go behind before we start our game.

"I am not about to open the book of excuses. It is me as the first one to do my job better, it is always like that. After analysing my performance, and what I want to do with the team, comes the rest.

"We created enough situations, but it is about how we do it. We have the quality and the positions, but sometimes football is like that."

Millwall boss Alex Neil told BBC Radio London:

"I thought we started a bit sloppy, but I was very pleased Luke Cundle got his goal. The second half was very different, we had to dig in and you could see a lot of players were dead on their feet.

"We all had to dig in and the goalkeeper made some unbelievable saves in the second half. So yes, it was a terrific effort from everybody.

"Last week against Middlesbrough in the last half hour we didn't run as hard as we normally do. This week was about making sure we do the basics and we did that from the first minute to the last."