Millwall

MIllwall welcome Hull City to The Den on Saturday (15:00 GMT) seeking a first win in five, and a first under Alex Neil in the Championship.

The Lions are 14th and now 11 points adrift of the play-off places, with a seven-point gap to the third-bottom Tigers in the final relegation place.

The Tigers ended a five-match losing streak on their travels with a win last time out at Blackburn, while they pinched a point at home to Leeds in their most recent home game.

• Millwall have failed to win any of their past five league games against Hull City (D3 L2), failing to score in four of those matches. The London outfit last endured a longer such run against the Tigers between January 1967 and January 1970 (six games).

• Hull City have won just two of their 26 away league games against Millwall (D10 L14), drawing on five of their past six EFL visits to The Den (L1).

• Millwall have won just one of their past 11 league games (D5 L5), though that did come at home to Blackburn in December; in fact, only Plymouth (100%) have seen a greater proportion of their total Championship wins this season come at home than the Lions (86% - 6/7).

• Hull City have picked up eight points from their seven league games under manager Rubén Sellés (W2 D2 L3), more than across their 12 Championship matches prior (6 - W1 D3 L8).

• Hull's Abu Kamara scored twice last time out against Leeds United, as many goals as he netted across his previous 32 league appearances for the Tigers and Portsmouth combined; he has never scored in back-to-back league outings

Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport England

Image source, Getty Images

Put simply, Aaron Connolly's time at Sunderland never really got going.

He arrived late after a difficult summer dealing with personal issues which he bravely spoke about shortly after moving to Wearside.

But by that time, Frenchman Wilson Isidor was finding his stride as the Black Cats' main man up front in boss Regis Le Bris' favoured 4-3-3 formation.

Connolly needed a run of games to find his rhythm, but that never came.

He scored his only goal in the 1-1 draw at Millwall in one of only two starts, but he did not even come off the bench in Sunderland's next game. That was proof of where he sat in the pecking order.

The move to The Den is probably best for all parties because, as Connolly showed last season at Hull, there is a very talented Championship player waiting to come out.

Millwall are interested in signing forward Aaron Connolly from Sunderland. The 24-year-old only signed for the Black Cats in September but has struggled to make an impact and could be available. (Sunderland Echo), external

Want more transfer news from the EFL? Take a look at Tuesday's gossip here.

Image source, Rex Features

Millwall winger Romain Esse's move to Crystal Palace is edging closer, according to Lions boss Alex Neil.

"There wasn't an issue," Neil said when asked if an injury ruled the 19-year-old out of their 3-0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge in the FA Cup third round on Monday.

"Crystal Palace have shown a lot of interest in Romain. I didn't make him available for the game and I think the situation is progressing and what I wouldn't do is put that at risk at this stage.

"If that changes then Romain will be back in the squad."

When asked if Esse's proposed move to Palace was more likely than it had been last week, Neil added: "Yeah, I think that's fair to say."

He has scored five goals and provided one assist in 25 games in all competitions for Millwall this season.

Alex Howell
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Crystal Palace are closing in on the signing of Millwall forward Romain Esse.

Two sources with knowledge of the deal say it is close to being done after the Eagles showed interest in the 19-year-old early in the window.

Sources at Millwall have acknowledged that Palace are front of the queue when it comes to getting a deal done with a number of teams interested in Esse's services.

Millwall manager Alex Neil spoke about Palace's interest in Esse earlier this week and said it would take 'significant money' for the Eagles to complete a signing this month.

There has been interest in England U20 forward Esse for a while and he signed a new deal with the Lions in August.

Esse has five goals and one assist in 25 games for Millwall this season.

Palace are looking to sign a left wing-back and an attacker during this transfer window and alongside Esse have shown an interest in Liverpool loanee Ben Doak.

Image source, Rex Features

Several Championship clubs will be playing close attention to comments from Aston Villa boss Unai Emery about attacking midfielder Louie Barry.

The 21-year-old has been recalled by Villa this week after a stellar loan spell with League One Stockport, where he scored 16 goals this season.

Leeds, Sunderland, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby, Middlesbrough, Millwall and Coventry are among the clubs reported to be keen on taking Barry for a stint in the second tier for the remainder of the campaign.

Speaking ahead of Villa's FA Cup third round clash with West Ham, Emery said: "(Barry) trained with us and we are going to make a plan with him, an overall plan,

"I think he is a very good player who is progressing well. He has been on loan doing fantastic. Now we can have a new plan with him.

"He improved because he was scoring a lot of goals on loan. With us he only trained today and yesterday. Of course we are going to try and get a good plan for the club with him."

Image source, Rex Features

Millwall welcome National League side Dagenham & Redbridge to The Den in Monday's FA Cup third round tie (19:30 GMT).

• The only previous meetings between Millwall and Dagenham & Redbridge came in the 2011-12 FA Cup – the Lions won a third-round replay 5-0 following a 0-0 draw in the initial tie.

• Dagenham & Redbridge are winless in all seven of their FA Cup matches against sides from the top two tiers of English football (D2 L5), failing to score in five of those games.

• Having won five consecutive FA Cup third round ties between 2016-17 and 2020-21, Millwall have been eliminated at this stage of the competition in each of the past three campaigns.

• This is Dagenham & Redbridge's seventh appearance in the FA Cup third round, and first since 2015-16 (0-2 vs Everton). They've progressed from just one of the previous six, knocking out Plymouth Argyle in 2002-03.

• Millwall have progressed from their past 10 FA Cup ties against non-league opponents, since a 1-0 home loss to Woking in 1996-97 (first round replay).

Image source, Getty Images

Millwall Under-21 midfielder Ra'ess Bangura-Williams has signed a new "long-term" contract with the Championship club.

The 20-year-old is yet to make a first-team appearance for the Lions but was part of the squad that drew 0-0 at Coventry City last month.

Bangura-Williams joined the club in December 2023 after a successful trial period. He has made 15 appearances for the U21s this season, scoring five goals.

"We're delighted Ra'ees has committed his long-term future to the club," academy director Scott Fitzgerald told the Millwall website., external

"He's a player we've worked with for 18 months now, and we've seen some great development so far, we hope that there is a lot more to come from him."

On Thursday, Millwall head coach Alex Neil confirmed the club had received concrete interest from Premier League Crystal Palace for winger Romain Esse.

Alex Howell
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Crystal Palace are interested in Millwall winger Romain Esse.

The 19-year-old is being tracked by the Eagles this window along with Liverpool loanee Ben Doak.

Sources around Millwall believe there is interest from multiple clubs in Esse, who signed a new deal with the Lions in August.

According to one source, Esse has a release clause in his contract and it will take that to be triggered for the attacker to make a move this month.

The England Under-20 international has five goals and one assist in 25 games for Millwall this season.

Palace are looking to sign a left wing-back and an attacker during this transfer window to bolster the options available to manager Oliver Glasner.

Crystal Palace have made Millwall winger Romain Esse a priority signing target after the 19-year-old attracted the attention of Eagles sporting director Dougie Freedman. (South London Press, external)

Want more EFL transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column.

Millwall and Hull City are interested in Nottingham Forest defender Willy Boly, who appears to be out of favour with Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo after only making four Premier League appearances for the top tier side this season. (AfricaFoot - in French, external)

Want more EFL transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column.