Millwall

Nick Hart
Fan writer

Image source, Rex Features

Among many things I never expected to happen in my life, surely making a special effort to watch Hull City play Coventry on Monday night football must be one of them.

"Come on you Tigers," I kept mumbling to myself without much conviction. Hull did at least salvage a late draw to keep Millwall within striking distance.

Saturday's excellent home win over play-off rivals Middlesbrough puts the Lions seriously into the mix for that prized sixth Championship spot.

Of course we still have to hope that pressure makes others stumble and we keep winning.

But as unlikely as Millwall surging into the top six looked just a few weeks ago, Lady Luck suddenly seems to be smiling upon us. It remains to be seen how much longer that will last.

Next, Millwall travel to Blackburn Rovers on Good Friday.

Not easy, especially with our injury list getting longer than my local hospital's waiting list.

As gaffer Alex Neil put it in his Boro post-match interview, though, when the Millwall squad and fans come together, anything is possible.

Don't book your summer holidays just yet...

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Image source, Rex Features

Millwall boss Alex Neil said he is "extremely proud" of his players for keeping their Championship play-off hopes alive.

The Lions were 13th, and six points adrift of the top six, following a 1-0 defeat by Sunderland 16 days ago.

But they have since won three games on the bounce - including a 1-0 victory over play-off rivals Middlesbrough on Saturday - to move within two points of Coventry City, in sixth, before they travel to Hull City on Monday evening.

"I've done the play-offs three times and managed to be successful each time, which doesn't mean anything going into it," Neil told BBC Radio London.

"But what it does mean is I've got vast experience in terms of getting into them. I've got a lot of experience in going into these run-ins as well.

"We've still got a lot of work to do, we're still chasing teams above us - there are still two teams we need to chase, which is tough.

"Really, it's down to them [West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough].

"We've got four games against really tough opponents but what this week has done is given us an opportunity that otherwise we wouldn't have had.

"From that perspective, I'm extremely proud of the players in terms of what they've put in."

Millwall's final four Championship fixtures:

• Blackburn (A) - Friday, 18 April

• Norwich (H) - Monday, 21 April

• Swansea (H) - Saturday, 26 April

• Burnley (A) - Saturday, 3 May

Millwall and Middlesbrough meet for a vital contest in the race for the Championship play-offs on Saturday afternoon (15:00 BST).

The Lions are three points behind seventh-placed Boro and five points off the top six after three wins from their past four games.

Boro have won five of their previous eight matches (D1 L2) and are two points behind Coventry City in sixth.

• Millwall have lost both of their previous two league games against Middlesbrough, never before losing three in a row against them.

• After their 1-0 win in December, Middlesbrough could complete their fourth league double over Millwall, after 1928-29, 1973-74, and 2014-15.

• Millwall have won both of their past two home league games, as many as their previous 10 beforehand (W2 D3 L5).

• Middlesbrough have won each of their past five league games against sides from London. Boro have never won six in a row against capital clubs across their EFL history.

• Millwall's Alex Neil has only won one of his five previous managerial home games against Middlesbrough in the Championship (D1 L3), although that was his most recent with Preston in December 2020.

Nick Hart
Fan writer

Image source, Rex Features

Tuesday's magnificent win at Sheffield United, gives Millwall an unlikely, outsider's shot at the play-offs.

Okay, that late, late goal at Coventry last night certainly sprinkled a spoonful of reality over our morning cornflakes, but we are at our best always as the underdog.

Five points back with five games to play? Can we do it?

With our injury crisis, it will certainly be a massive achievement if we do.

But increasingly Alex Neil is pulling huge performances out of this squad.

The improvement in players like Billy Mitchell, Joe Bryan and Josh Coburn up front, combined with much more tactical nous than we've seen in recent years at The Den, gives us a puncher's chance, to borrow a boxing analogy.

So onto Middlesbrough at home this Saturday.

We'll need the gods of football to smile on us and keep doing so, but, as we've seen this season, this Millwall side can achieve some big results when the heat is on.

Come on you Lions!

Find more from Nick Hart on Achtung! Millwall., external

"Wouldn't you love to see somebody like Millwall make it just to upset the status quo of Premier League football? Wouldn't you just love to see that?"

The 72+ team are joined by Colchester United's Lyle Taylor, and the 35-year-old striker wants to see Millwall, where he started his career, rise to the top division.

"Nobody outside of South East London would want to see Millwall in the Premier League - I'd love to see Millwall in the Premier League," Taylor told the 72+ podcast.

"Just to see how somebody different can upset how things are done at the top table. Just like when Luton did it, it was so different and so refreshing.

"Millwall would never be involved in that boring 0-0 in the Premier League, it would be all blood, guts and thunder."

Listen to the full episode and more on the Football Daily podcast.

Image source, PA Media

Chris Wilder admits his Sheffield United side lack quality in front of goal as their automatic promotion hopes took another blow at home to Millwall.

Josh Coburn's 21st minute strike settled the match despite the hosts having 25 shots and more than 65% possession.

The Blades have lost two Championship games in a row and are two points below league leaders Leeds United and Burnley with five games of the season left to play.

"It's been a tough couple of games for us, we didn't do enough on Saturday and paid the price and just shot ourselves in the foot really," Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield after the match.

"The first goal is massive in this division. The goal, from our point of view, there were so many things we could have done better to prevent that.

"I thought the energy from the team was good, we've created enough opportunities [and] we've got the ball where we wanted to get it.

"We've had 25 shots but really when you're looking for that little bit of quality that you need, when we got into those positions we never really found it and fair play to Millwall.

"The quality that we do possess has gone missing tonight at the top of the pitch."

The Blades face Plymouth Argyle (A), Cardiff City (H), Burnley (A), Stoke City (A) and Blackburn Rovers (H) in their remaining games.

"I don't think anybody would have thought that we'd have lost the last two games but we've done that so we have to suffer and to own that and take that on the chin," Wilder added.

"I think I've got enough characters and quality in that group to get us back into a winning run, but it has to come soon and it has to come on Saturday [at Plymouth].

Image source, PA Media

Millwall's 1-0 win at Sheffield United moved the Lions within three points of the play-off places.

Josh Coburn's 21st-minute strike secured a fourth win in six games for Alex Neil's side.

The Lions have now beaten each of the Championship's top three teams this season and head coach Neil believes his side were good value for their victory.

"I thought we deserved it. I think if you look at the clearest chances in the game they fell to us," Neil told BBC Radio London.

"You do know that coming here you are going to have to take bits of pressure and see those bits out. You're going to have to rely on your keeper sometimes and defend well, but that's why Sheffield United have won more games than anyone else in this division so far.

"So we knew it was going to be a tough game, but we came with a game plan and I thought the lads executed it brilliantly.

"I thought we created some really good chances in the game for ourselves. We probably should have scored maybe two in the second half, even three, when you saw how clear cut they were.

"Unfortunately we couldn't put it to bed, which meant we had to put our bodies right to the last second.

"Great performance from us. [I'm] really delighted with how the players are doing at the moment, their application, not even just the starting XI but every single one that comes on the pitch."

Sheffield United welcome Millwall on Tuesday (19:45 BST) as they look to regain the top spot from rivals Burnley.

The Blades suffered a disappointing loss to relegation-threatened Oxford United on the weekend to relinquish their place at the apex to the Clarets.

However, to take it back they will need to claim victory over the Lions, who will also be looking for maximum points as they try to carve out a place in the play-offs.

• After their 1-0 win in December, Sheffield United are looking to complete their first league double over Millwall since 1983-84.

• Millwall have won just one of their last 14 away league games against Yorkshire clubs (D3 L10), a 4-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday in November 2023.

• Under Chris Wilder, Sheffield United have only lost four of their last 32 home games in the Championship (W24 D4), although three of those have come since Boxing Day 2024.

• Millwall have lost both of their last two away league games without scoring, last losing three in a row on the road without finding the net once back in September 2018.

• Each of Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder's last three home games against Millwall have been 1-1 draws, two with the Blades (Apr 2018, Apr 2019) and one with Middlesbrough (Nov 2021).

Image source, Getty Images

Millwall boss Alex Neil has delivered some worrying news regarding the fitness of defender Japhet Tanganga.

The 26-year-old was forced off early in the Lions' game against Portsmouth on Saturday.

"I think he might have broken his hand - he couldn't move it, we'll get it X-rayed tonight (Saturday) and find out," Neil told BBC Radio London.

Neil's side scored late on to beat John Mousinho's Portsmouth at The Den and complete the league double over the Blues.

Mihailo Ivanovic netted twice in the second half and his side now sit ninth in the Championship table with six games remaining.

"I thought we deserved to win, first half we were really dominant without getting the goal I felt we really deserved, that was frustrating." Neil added.

"At half-time we spoke about final-third decision making and making sure our strikers were stronger and a bit more aggressive.

"I thought both strikers were excellent in the second half and we deserved the win, we could have scored another couple after the second goal too."

Portsmouth will seek to end their away-day blues when they head to Millwall on Saturday (15:00 BST).

John Mousinho's men have won just two of their 19 games on the road this season, collecting just 10 points in total, though one of those wins did come in London against QPR.

The Lions are four places and six points ahead of Pompey, who lie 17th and now only five points ahead of the drop-zone after Derby's win over Preston on Wednesday night.

A home win could take Alex Neil's side back into the top-10 and potentially within three points of the play-off places, depending on Middlesbrough's result against Blackburn on Friday night.

• Millwall have won their past three league games against Portsmouth, winning each of those matches exactly 1-0. The Lions have never previously won four in a row against Pompey.

• This is Portsmouth's first away league visit to Millwall since Boxing Day in 2011 – the Lions won 1-0 with a goal from Dany N'Guessan.

• Millwall are looking to win back-to-back home league games for the first time since a run of three in October and November earlier this campaign.

• Portsmouth have won five of their last eight league games (L3). Since the start of this run on 11 February, only Burnley (20), Sheffield United (19) and Coventry (18) have picked up more points than Pompey (15).

• Portsmouth's Josh Murphy has been involved in seven goals in his last nine Championship appearances (2 goals, 5 assists) and has 10 assists overall for Pompey this season. The last player with more in a league season for the club was Ricky Holmes in 2013-14 (11).

Nick Hart
Fan writer

Image source, PA Media

It's a football cliche that the only statistic that matters is the final score.

Very true of course, but any Millwall fan watching Saturday's toothless display will also have noticed the Lions had an unusual 54% of possession at Sunderland, while mustering just two shots on target across the game.

Ouch.

In truth, the Black Cats were good value for their 1-0 win, despite a few late game jitters once Millwall went with two strikers and actually started to look vaguely dangerous going forwards.

This was a long way to travel for the hardy 700+ away fans to see plenty of effort, but very little effect from the Lions.

Another football cliche that springs to mind is that we are a "work in progress" since the arrival of Alex Neil - though possibly this provides cover for just being "not very good".

In Millwall's defence right now, we do have more injuries than Sweeney Todd's pie shop.

Despite all this, we remain just six tantalising points off West Bromwich Albion in the sixth play-off position.

Amazingly, we are still outsiders for a shot at getting pounded each week in the Premier League.

My final cliche then is that this is a big ask...

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Image source, Getty Images

Millwall head coach Alex Neil says he was disappointed to lose at Sunderland to a set-piece goal.

The Lions were undone by a short corner routine from the Black Cats that ended with Trai Hume volleying in the winner.

Defeat saw the south London side drop to 13th and six points away from an outside run at a play-off spot.

"It was a hard-fought game, I didn't think there was a lot in the game," Neil told BBC Radio London.

"The disappointing thing from our point of view is when you come to Sunderland, the last thing you should do is lose the game on a set-play.

"We're a big strong side and we didn't deal with it well enough, which cost us the match."

Sunderland will aim to regain some form as they host Millwall on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Black Cats suffered a 3-0 loss to Coventry City last time out - a team they could end up facing in the play offs come the end of the season - to see them fall further away from the top three and the dream of automatic promotion dwindle.

While Millwall scraped a 94th minute winning penalty out of their 1-0 game against Stoke and will look to remain undefeated by Sunderland this season, having already drawn 1-1 at the Den in November.

• Sunderland have won just one of their last eight league games against Millwall (D5 L2), a 3-0 win at the Stadium of Light in December 2022.

• After winning their last away league game against Sunderland 1-0 in April last year, Millwall will be looking to claim successive wins on their travels against the Black Cats for the first time.

• Sunderland have lost three of their last six league games (W2 D1), as many defeats as across their prior 27 Championship matches combined (W13 D11).

• Millwall have won four of their last seven away league games (D1 L2), as many victories as across their prior 22 matches on the road combined (D8 L10).

• Sunderland have lost just one of their last 12 league games against sides from London (W3 D8), though that defeat came against Millwall last April. Each of Sunderland's three defeats to sides from the capital since the beginning of the 2018-19 campaign have come at the Stadium of Light.