Both scrapping for their second-tier lives near the foot of the league standings, a rejuvenated Millwall side will welcome Birmingham City to The Den on Saturday afternoon in the Championship.
The Lions were forced to share the spoils at Blackburn Rovers in the week, whilst Blues produced a late comeback to earn a point from playoff-chasing Hull City.
Since the arrival of Neil Harris back to the Millwall managerial hotseat, the Lions have collected seven points from three matches against Premier League hopefuls Southampton, Watford and Blackburn, whilst having an average of just 27% possession across that trio of contests.
Consequently, those of a certain footballing view will argue that Millwall are back to their effective best following a departure from their hard-to-beat values under Joe Edwards, although better care with the ball would have allowed them to collect all three points on Tuesday night.
Netting his maiden goal for the Lions – and his first in over a year following an injury-riddled 12 months – Burnley loanee Michael Obafemi scored off the bench at Ewood Park in the second period, but Rovers’ leading marksman Sammie Szmodics was able to bag his 20th of the Championship term to force a share of the spoils.
After collecting just three points from seven second-tier matches before his arrival, 46-year-old Harris is taking the glass-half-full view of the Blackburn draw, with his Millwall troops lifting themselves up to 18th in the league standings, two points ahead of Stoke City in 22nd.
Back-to-back home defeats to Kieran McKenna‘s Ipswich Town and fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday in February signalled the end of Edwards’s time as Lions boss, but Millwall were victorious in their most-recent fixture at The Den on March 2, when a third-minute Zian Flemminggoal was enough to defeat Valerien Ismael‘s Watford.
