Sunderland and Portsmouth are the next clubs entrusted with halting Millwall’s impressive run of form. Neil Harris, Millwall’s head coach, has praised the club’s ‘good’ week leading up to the international break and games against Sunderland and Portsmouth. The Lions defeated Burnley and Leeds United at The Den before picking up a point against Stoke City in the last seven days, as the London club continues to gain momentum. Millwall are now unbeaten in seven Championship games, conceding only two goals, and are the club to beat in the league right now.
That’s terrible news for next opponents Sunderland and Portsmouth, who will spend the international break figuring out how to beat Harris’ extremely well-organised side. The Black Cats are at the top of the table, but they will be well aware of what awaits fellow promotion contenders Burnley and Leeds United when they visit The Den, while Pompey are languishing in 23rd position.
Following the point against Stoke, Harris told BBC London: “It’s a wonderful point. The entire stadium, and maybe the entire football business, assumed ‘Millwall are 1-0 up, that’s how it’s going to end’, but enormous respect to Stoke; they are a good side in a good moment. They caused numerous problems in the middle third throughout the game, but we had the better opportunities. So I’m pleased with a point.
“Ultimately, it’s more than just one game; I consider the week and the seven points in a week. It’s a perfect week for us to play Burnley and Leeds at home before traveling to Stoke, a venue where we’ve not performed well in recent years.
“There was a thought process [on team selection] to try to exploit Stoke’s first-line vulnerabilities by getting an additional body higher up the pitch. However, there was a strong desire to maintain a winning squad and recipe. I didn’t want to leave George Honeyman out, but you had to look at the fixture schedule and then three games in less than six days because we finished at 5 p.m. last Sunday and began at 12:30 today. It’s insane that we’re put in that predicament. So I had to rotate the team.”
Millwall, who are already on a high, are about to get much better with the return of injured first team players. It remains to be seen whether Sunderland and Portsmouth arrive too early, but the two-week break could help the team get its stars back to full condition. Harris went on to say, “Every guy that has stepped on the pitch has been amazing. Every player who hasn’t played on the pitch, including Murray Wallace, Wes Harding, Adam Mayor, Billy Mitchell, and Aidomo Emakhu, has been fantastic at driving things, which is exactly what we need as a football club.
“They [Stoke City] got into nice positions and had plenty of possession, but we had more opportunities. Femi Azeez would be frustrated that he did not score a single goal, let alone two or three. We scored a fantastic goal, a well-executed free kick that brought Josh Coburn in. I’m thrilled for him to return and score. “There were so many positives today and throughout the week.”
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