Millwall

Image source, Rex Features

Millwall manager Neil Harris says he can understand everyone's frustration after their Championship match Portsmouth was postponed because of a power failure at Fratton Park.

Millwall are on an eight game unbeaten run but Harris accepts it was an issue out of everyone's hands.

"2,000 Millwall fans have travelled down here and they were hugely respectful and it's frustrating for everyone," Harris told BBC London.

"I hope everyone can understand health and safety comes first but you can't control the weather and you can't control power grids so we just have to accept it and move on.

"I hope fans can use their tickets at the rearranged game but they don't get a refund on their travel so I feel for them and hope everyone gets home safely.

"Portsmouth were very good, as was the match official Dean Whitestone and we had as much information as possible until the security and police have to take the matter out of everyone's hands and make the decision that's in the best interests of the fans."

Millwall are next due to visit Oxford United in the Championship on Saturday, while Pompey travel to Swansea.

Image source, Rex Features

Here's more from Portsmouth chief executive officer Andrew Cullen after their Championship match with Millwall was postponed because of a power cut.

"I can’t speculate at this time but what we can say is that Fratton Park is served by a sub station and it has been identified that one of the fuse boards had blown," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"The problem is that we don’t have any access to that sub station so our maintenance team weren’t able to get into there to try and resolve the situation themselves.

"We need to do a lot more to find out what caused that to happen, both teams were desperate to play the game so I’m really conscious and upset for the supporters from both teams who made the trip.

"It’s not great and I can only apologise to both sets of supports and those who travelled."

Image source, Rex Features

Portsmouth chief executive officer Andrew Cullen says they had no option but to postpone Wednesday's Championship match with Millwall because of a power cut at Fratton Park.

"We got to a point where the floodlights were back on but there was still an issue with non-emergency lighting and CCTV so we had a decision to make in terms of crowd safety," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"There’s more to this than just 22 players on the football pitch. We had a capacity crowd here tonight and we did not have confidence that we could get through a whole game with some lighting not working in the stands.

"Then we got to 8:30 and then we had a further problem which was the last trains going back to London for the Millwall supporters, and they would not have been able to get those back so a decision had to be made.

"I’m incredibly disappointed and I’m upset that we had to call the game off but it was the only logical decision at that time to do in the interests of everyone’s safety."

Image source, Rex Features

The last time Millwall and Portsmouth met in a league fixture 12 years ago, a young striker wrong-footed the Pompey defence on the edge of the area before firing low into the corner to secure a 1-0 win for the Lions.

On loan from Tottenham, Millwall's number 37 would go to become a household name and a national icon as his nine goals in 27 games over the second half of the 2011-12 campaign offered a prelude to his greatness.

He was just 18, but Harry Kane's strike to defeat Pompey combined the skill and precision we have subsequently seen again, and again... and again, for club and country.

The England captain has 69 goals for his country - 16 more than second-placed Wayne Rooney - and scored 280 times for Tottenham before moving to Bayern Munich in 2023.

His goal that day at Fratton Park in April 2012 was the last in the league between Millwall and Pompey, with the south coast side relegated to League One that season, and Kane's contribution - including four goals in the final six games - helping steer the Lions to safety.

Pompey's promotion back to the Championship pits the two teams against each other once again, with Millwall on an eight-game unbeaten run and John Mousinho's side just one point above bottom club QPR.

Millwall won both games 1-0 in the 2011-12 season but have won just two of their last 19 league visits to Portsmouth [D7 L10]. The Lions won 1-0 when the clubs met in the Carabao Cup at Fratton Park in August.

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Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho has been impressed with the performances of Wednesday's opponents Millwall.

Pompey host the Lions at Fratton Park having seen their Championship match at Blackburn postponed on Saturday, further delaying their return to action after the international break.

Millwall are unbeaten in their past eight league matches and have only conceded three goals in that run.

"They're well-organised defensively and well-drilled as a team which is something we'll have to work on to try to unpick that lock," Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.

"We need to move the ball quickly to put them under pressure but while their defensive record is excellent they've also got a real attacking threat as well."

Portsmouth's last game before the break saw them record their first home victory of the season by beating Preston 3-1 and Mousinho is hoping that is a sign of things to come.

"As a general rule you try to build any success on decent home form and when you pick up home wins it gives you a bit more breathing space away which we haven't had so this is definitely a very important game," he added.

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Femi Azeez's 93rd-minute equaliser against Sunderland on Saturday snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat to ensure Millwall's long unbeaten run continued.

The Lions last tasted defeat on 1 October in Cardiff and have picked up four wins and four draws in the eight games since - including a run of four consecutive 1-0 victories.

Let's recap how Neil Harris' side have climbed the table to within three points of a play-off spot:

West Brom 0-0 Millwall - The Lions got the ball rolling with a hard-fought stalemate at The Hawthorns.

Millwall 1-1 Derby - Summer signing Mihailo Ivanovic's first goal for the club cancelled out Jerry Yates' header for the Rams.

Millwall 1-0 Plymouth - Romain Esse's 13th-minute strike secured Millwall's first win in four matches.

Image source, Getty Images

Swansea 0-1 Millwall - The Lions claimed the ultimate smash-and-grab victory, soaking up Swans pressure before Casper De Norre fired in a 90th-minute winner.

Millwall 1-0 Burnley - Jake Cooper's towering header inflicted the Clarets' first defeat in 10 games in all competitions.

Millwall 1-0 Leeds - Centre-back Japhet Tanganga's first goal of the season secured a fourth win and fourth clean sheet in a row.

Stoke 1-1 Millwall - Potters skipper Ben Gibson nods in after Josh Coburn's opener as Lukas Jensen finally concedes.

Millwall 1-1 Sunderland - And Azeez leaves it very, very, very late!

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Lions boss Neil Harris said his players didn't do the "Millwall basics" in the first half before they fought back to claim a last-gasp 1-1 draw against Sunderland.

Femi Azeez's equaliser deep in added time rescued a point for the hosts at The Den after Aaron Connolly had given the Black Cats the lead in the first half.

"At half-time I let them have it properly, because that's what it deserved," he told BBC Radio London.

"In the first half we didn't play with a Millwall identity or a Millwall intensity - the basics are: you win your duels, you win your headers, you win your races, you win your tackles and you play forward and run forward at the right times.

"Then [in the] second half we did. We played forward and ran forward, we played round, we played through, we played over and we created chances.

"We were a threat on set-plays and that's what a Millwall identity is, and we had it in abundance in the second half."

Millwall finished the match with five attackers as Harris' team pressed for the equaliser and it was Azeez and fellow substitute Aidomo Emakhu who combined for the goal.

On his substitutions, Harris added: "Sometimes just [throwing] caution to wind. When you're behind, sometimes you can do that.

"We were trying to get five players against their back four, trying to overload the midfield area and you just hope that you get a moment of quality and we had that."

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Substitute Femi Azeez’s first Millwall goal rescued a point for the Lions in added time against Sunderland.

The Black Cats led through Aaron Connolly's 10th-minute volley before the players were taken off the pitch for half an hour while medical staff attended two separate emergencies in the crowd.

The Lions were a team transformed after the break and returning Sunderland keeper Anthony Patterson pulled off a string of saves to preserve his side's lead.

But the hosts eventually found the goal their pressure deserved deep into added time as Azeez tapped in from a cross by fellow sub Aidomo Emakhu to extend Millwall's unbeaten run to eight games.

Full match report here.

Image source, Rex Features

Neil Harris says Millwall are extremely confident ahead of the visit of Championship leaders Sunderland to the new-found fortress that is The Den.

After 1-0 wins over Burnley and Leeds in their past two home games, eighth-placed Millwall are seeking a hat-trick by toppling the Black Cats on Saturday (15:00 GMT) which could potentially take them into the top five.

“It’s fair to say we’re extremely confident at the moment,” Harris told BBC Radio London. “We know who we are and where we are at as a football club.

“There’s no over confidence or arrogance in what we do and no ignorance about what faces us on Saturday. It’s a brilliant league, I love the Championship, I always have done. I am so humble to work in it and play against top teams and big clubs."

The Lions have taken 16 points from eight home games this season, having picked up 16 from their final six of last season after Harris returned as boss at the end of February.

"We are loving it," he added. "We know teams fear us, and so they should, at times. We know The Den has been a really tough place to come in the last nine months and we want to continue that.

“We’re also fully aware that for us to be at our best we can’t change what we do, our working standards, our discipline and structure.

"We have to outcompete, outrun and outfight our opponent at every opportunity because that’s who we are."

Image source, BBC Sport

Millwall are looking to continue their impressive run of form when they welcome Championship leaders Sunderland to The Den on Saturday.

The Lions are unbeaten in their last seven games (W4 D3), while the Black Cats are undefeated in eight (W4 D4) but have drawn three on the bounce.

• Millwall have lost just one of their last seven league games against Sunderland (W2 D4) despite both scoring and conceding eight goals during that run.

• Sunderland have won just one of their last 12 away league games against Millwall (D5 L6). Each of the last three such matches between the pair at the Den have finished 1-1.

• Millwall have won their last three home league games, winning all three 1-0. They last won four in a row at The Den in October 2022, while they last did so with a clean sheet each time in March 2010 in League One.

• Sunderland have picked up 31 points in 15 Championship games this season (W9 D4 L2), their best start to a season at this level since 1998-99 (also 31 points) when they eventually won the league.

• Millwall's Casper De Norre is the only Championship player this season to make both 30+ tackles (31) and 30+ interceptions (30).

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Millwall manager Neil Harris says the international break will be a good chance for them to rest and prepare for their next Championship game, against leaders Sunderland.

The Lions have Romain Esse (England Elite squad), Mihailo Ivanovic (Serbia) and George Saville (Northern Ireland) away on international duty but Harris says the rest of the squad will get some time off.

"Good luck to the ones representing their country, we're very proud of them," Harris told BBC Radio London.

"For the rest of the lads it'll be a fine balance between recuperation and game time so when we get around to Sunderland we're at it."

Millwall are unbeaten in their past seven Championship games, with five wins, leaving them in eighth place.

Image source, Getty Images

The Millwall manager, Neil Harris says the defensive structure of his team is a big part of their recent success.

Wednesday night's 1-0 win over Leeds was their fourth successive victory by that scoreline.

"That's a brilliant result for us, we knew the intensity was going to be higher than against Burnley on Sunday," Harris told BBC Radio London.

"For us it's about discipline, being as organised and structured as we can be and then finding a way to score at the other end. I'm very proud of the players this evening."

The four wins in a row have taken Millwall from 21st place up to fifth in the Championship table ahead of their trip to Stoke on Saturday.

"It just shows what momentum can give you, what a top culture can give you and identifying what our strengths are as a team and a club," said Harris.