Lincoln City await the cauldron of a sold-out Den on Saturday lunchtime as the Imps look for an immediate response to our heavy defeat against West Ham United.
It’s the second match in a row against a side from East London, and City bosses Tom Shaw and Chris Cohen will be expecting a completely different performance from Wednesday’s match.
Millwall Form
Millwall will be keen to provide a response to their midweek reverse against Championship leaders Swansea City. Unfortunately, the game was overshadowed by alleged racist abuse towards Swans substitute Eom Ji-sung, which saw the game paused for several minutes. As the game approached stoppage time, the deadlock was finally broken by Ronald to condemn Neil Harris’ outfit to a first defeat in four matches.
The Lions returned from the international break with three points, overcoming a potentially awkward assignment to defeat bottom side Preston North End. It marked Graham Alexander’s first match in charge of the Lilywhites, but it was the side from the capital who returned from the north-west with maximum points courtesy of Camiel Neghli’s late winner.
It’s been a mixed start to the campaign for Millwall, who were expected to be in the play-off conversation for promotion following their exit from the play-offs last term. After beginning the season with four straight wins across all competitions, the latter three without conceding, they were brought crashing down to Earth at Southampton.
However, the 5-1 scoreline on the South Coast was perhaps an unfair reflection of the 90 minutes, with Harris’ side giving a good account of themselves. Nevertheless, further disappointment awaited at the start of September when Wrexham put three past them at The Den. The response to that result was far more positive, putting four past Bolton Wanderers.
Inconsistencies continued to show after exiting the League Cup against Newcastle United as they were defeated by Blackburn Rovers. Two strong first-half showings against high-flying Middlesbrough and fierce rivals West Ham United saw the Lions lead 2-0 in both encounters. However, Boro and the Hammers responded after the interval to gain a point from their respective clashes.
Millwall Team News
Harris has had to deal with an injury crisis in the early stages of the campaign, which has partially eased following the extended international break. Tristan Crama is one such example, making his first appearance of the season last weekend following surgery on his ankle. Ryan Leonard returned to the starting XI after his hamstring issues in the early stages of the campaign.
Before that enforced break from action, Luke Cundle, Alfie Doughty and Kyrell Lisbie were among the players to return. Mathis Servais was another in that bracket, but he appears to have suffered another setback that will see him spend another period on the sidelines.
Reflecting on his side’s difficulties in the early stages of the season, Neil gave a frank update when speaking to the press last week.
“The situation is, some of the lads are obviously making good progress, but equally, there are others that are still in a similar situation and are going to take a little bit longer.
“It is improving, but it’s certainly not where we would like it to be. I don’t think we’ve ever been at the stage when we’ve got everybody available and fit.”
Former Imp Lukas Jensen is among those still absent, a list that also includes Casper De Norre, Romain Esse, Joshua Coburn, Mihailo Ivanovic and the above-mentioned Servais. Taïryk Arconte was the latest name added to the Lions injury list in midweek, missing out the defeat to Swansea with a knock. They will be hopeful of welcoming a few players back in the coming weeks, though Saturday may come too soon for that.
Summer Business
Unfortunately for Millwall and Harris, Servais, their big-money arrival, has barely featured since arriving from Belgium this summer. Big things were expected from former Peterborough United winger Lisbie, but his involvement has also been limited due to injury issues. At the other end of the pitch, injuries have benefitted goalkeeper Filip Marshall, who was signed from Stevenage.
Jenson Metcalfe completes the trio of players arriving from League One, completing his move to SE16 from beaten play-off semi-finalists Bradford City. The Lions also focused their business on proven Championship players with the arrivals of Mark Sykes and Danny Batth from Bristol City and Derby County, respectively.
Arconte and Yanis Issoufou have joined from the French second tier, while Jordi Osei-Tutu (Bolton Wanderers) and Elkan Baggott (Ipswich Town) rounds off their permanent signings this summer. Femi Azeez was their big-money departure, leaving for Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.
Previous Meetings
Unlike our last two games against Sheffield United and West Ham, we did not play Millwall during the 23/24 campaign. In fact, haven’t faced the Lions this century, last travelling to South Bermondsey in September 1998 for a 2-0 defeat.
League fixtures have been few and far between since the first encounter in 1932, 11 years on from an FA Cup clash that saw us run out 3-0 winners in East London. In 19 meetings, Millwall have been victorious in double the number of games as our five victories.
What Can We Expect?
Despite all their injury chaos, Millwall have once again proved they are a dangerous team at this level, as they look to finally win promotion to the Premier League. A result in South East London this lunchtime would be a major scalp, as much, if not more, than our three league victories away from Lincolnshire this term.
In a week of three games in seven days, rotation for both sides should keep fans guessing until the teams are released late on Saturday morning. The Lions had been strong on their patch this term until losing on Tuesday evening, but we can take inspiration from Wrexham’s fine win at The Den last month as proof they aren’t unbeatable.
Neither team have been particularly prolific infront of goal as of late, with the Lions’ absentees in attacking areas a key reason for their sharpness at that end of the pitch. With just one goal in two matches, and with Arconte, Coburn and Ivanovic potentially missing, a low-scoring contest should probably be expected.
Alex Neil is the Millwall manager