GARY Rowett has urged his side to provide moments that lift the fans at The Den and then play off that against Leicester City on Wednesday.
Millwall are aiming to reach the fourth round of the League Cup for the first time in 16 years when they take on Brendan Rodgers’ Premier League side this evening.
Home supporters at The Den – in a crowd of 18,012 – produced one of the best atmospheres in the last decade when they inspired their side to shock the Foxes 1-0 in the fifth round of the FA Cup in February 2017.
Millwall were a man down from the 52nd minute after Jake Cooper had been sent off against Claudio Ranieri’s reigning Premier League champions but Shaun Cummings scored in the last minute to spark wild scenes as Neil Harris’ side went through.
Leicester defender Ricardo Pereira has warned his team-mates they must be ready for the home crowd.
Rowett knows how important Lions supporters can be in helping lift the side against better teams, but he also acknowledges Leicester should be used to big atmospheres.
“I’m pretty sure players in the Premier League have sampled some good atmospheres along the way with more than 50,000 fans at games,” Rowett said.
“But we know The Den’s unique and we know that on a night like [Wednesday] night that the fans are going to be hugely important.
“We need them to do what they do which is to get behind the team and see if we can have some good moments in the game to lift the crowd and use that to our advantage.
“Leicester are a good technical side and sometimes the challenge against those technical sides is to try and maintain moments of intensity and pressure to see how a Premier League side handle it.
“I’m sure they’ll try to keep the ball away from us as much as they can and make it difficult for us to do that.”
Rodgers will make a number of changes to his first-choice Premier League side, with former Charlton winger Ademola Lookman set to be handed a first start since his loan move from RB Leipzig.
Wandsworth-born Lookman impressed after coming on in the second half of Leicester’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton at the weekend.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Rodgers said in his pre-match press conference. “He gave us exactly what we needed playing inside, being able to come wide, combining with Ricky [Pereira]. Just his cleverness and brightness in the game was so good. I was pleased with that.
“It’s a case of Ade coming in, getting used to how we work, how we play, and game on game he’s starting to make that impact. He’s certainly one we would consider to start during the week.
“We want to do well in the cup competitions. We reached the semi-finals in our first full season working together (losing to Aston Villa) and we want to do well this season.
“It’s an opportunity for me to have a look at players and give them some game-time. I’ve got players who have been training so well and working so hard, but make no mistake it’s a competition we would like to do well in.”
Possible Millwall starting XI: 5-2-3: Long; Leonard, Ballard, Hutchinson, Cooper, M Wallace; Kieftenbeld, Saville; Mahoney, Bradshaw, Bennett.
Match odds: Millwall 9/2 Draw 11/4 Leicester 8/13
Last meeting: FA Cup fifth round (February 18, 2017): Millwall 1-0 Leicester City (Cooper 52 s/o, Cummings 90).
Millwall: 4-4-2: 1 Archer; 2 Cummings, 17 Webster, 24 Cooper, 5 Craig; 22 O’Brien (Gregory, 79), 16 Butcher (Abdou, 75), 6 Williams, 18 Ferguson (Romeo, 86); 10 Onyedinma, 20 Morison.
Image: Millwall FC