MILLWALL are back on their travels on Friday when they visit their south London rivals Charlton Athletic.
A win is vital for both sides in their battles to get into the play-offs and to avoid relegation, respectively.
The Lions go into the game without a win since the restart, taking two points from a possible nine. Meanwhile, Lee Bowyer’s side are unbeaten, winning two and drawing one of their three games.
The Lions beat the Addicks 2-1 last November thanks to a late Matt Smith header. Millwall hold a 24-year unbeaten record against Charlton and will need that to continue with a win if they are to keep their faint play-off hopes alive.
Alex Grace caught up with CharltonLive’s Lewis Catt this week.
Twitter: @LewisCatt9
Why do you support Charlton?
My best friend and I started going to Charlton games when we were at primary school. The love for the club grew from there and I have been obsessed with the Addicks ever since.
What has been your favourite season following the Addicks?
The 2011-12 League One title-winning season under Chris Powell was amazing.
We had a huge overhaul of players that summer after a disappointing season the year before and it proved to be a success.
Last season’s League One campaign was also very special. That last-minute Wembley win against Sunderland has to go down as the greatest moment of my life so far.
And the worst?
The 2015-16 season when we were relegated from the Championship at the peak of the Roland Duchatelet protests was by far the worst season.
We showed a lot of promise at the start of the campaign but the Addicks soon found themselves in a woeful run of form which triggered a managerial revolving door that saw Guy Luzon, Karel Fraeye and Jose Riga manage the club.
Heavy, humiliating defeats away to the likes of Huddersfield and Hull saw us rooted in the Championship relegation zone where we would eventually remain after a dull 0-0 draw with fellow relegation strugglers Bolton Wanderers.
Results had been on the downturn before the suspension of football but things are now improving – what has changed?
We had some incredibly disappointing results before lockdown. Losing to fellow strugglers Stoke, Middlesbrough and Huddersfield saw us enter the drop zone before the season was postponed.
The Addicks have come back fresh and have shown plenty of fight in the first three games since the restart and have now edged themselves four points away from the relegtion zone after wins against Hull and QPR and an impressive draw away to play-off hopefuls Cardiff City.
One disappointment has been the loss of top scorer Lyle Taylor and club captain Chris Solly who both decided that they did not want to play out the remainder of the campaign and scupper any potential moves away from the club this summer.
However, Bowyer made these decisions early in order to take stock of what players he had at his disposal in this relegation fight, and you cannot deny that this squad has shown tremendous fight so far since the campaign resumed.
Obviously during the lockdown there have been major changes at the club with new ownership coming in – what has it been like to be a Charlton fan over the last year?
Another new owner…being a Charlton fan is such a roller coaster.
The emotional highs of promotion last summer and starting back in the Championship with a bang, the original optimism surrounding the ESI takeover was soon greeted with the lows of an embarrassing public fall-out between Tahnoon Nimer and Matt Southall.
Now both have moved on fans are none the wiser as to what this new ownership of ESI means for the football club. I do not know enough about Paul Elliot to make an early judgement call but he must understand that Charlton fans have been through the mire one too many times recently and it will take time and positive actions before fans really begin to trust him and Chris Farnell.
Lyle Taylor decided not to play for the club again – how did this go down with the fans and what is the feeling towards him now?
I think we all knew Lyle wouldn’t be a Charlton player come the end of the season anyway but I am incredibly disappointed that he decided not to play out the season here in SE7 and help us maintain our Championship status.
It would be incredibly fickle of me to say Lyle does not deserve a big move because he has been fantastic since he arrived here, however I do feel his legacy will be soured by recent events and it is a real shame. He is leaving as a villain when ultimately if he had stayed and helped us secure safety he would have left a hero.
One of the things previous ownership did do was tie Lee Bowyer down to a new long term contract – how much of a relief is that?
Securing Lee Bowyer was the most important bit of business the club will do in a long time.
He has been nothing short of sensational since taking the managerial reigns and fans absolutely adore him. He cares deeply about our football club and he works under such tight constraints which make the job he is doing at the club remarkable, really.
We have the smallest budget in the league and yet we compete. If it hadn’t been for a completely ridiculous injury crisis in the winter I would say we would be sitting comfortably outside the relegation zone and pushing more towards a top-half finish.
Are you confident the Addicks will avoid the drop this season?
The sides in and around the bottom three have all returned from the break in decent shape and have been picking up some great results.
The appointment of Neil Warnock at Middlesbrough will be a huge boost for them, Wigan have shown some incredible form coming back, though now have sadly fallen into administration.
We have managed to open up a four-point gap now and we can only control our own results. If we show the same fight we have done in these first few games then I would fancy us to surprise a few and we will definitely give ourselves a chance in staying up.
Charlton’s long wait for a win against Millwall now stands at 24 years. Without the fans being there is the best chance you will have at ending the run?
Do not remind me…
I think typically if we are going to beat you then it will be a game where none of us are allowed to be there to witness it! I do feel the fans play a large part in both sides so it is going to be a really interesting game.
What are your thoughts on Millwall’s season and Lions boss Gary Rowett?
Millwall were looking good for a top-six spot but have dipped off ever so slightly now.
Rowett is a great manager at this level and has definitely improved Millwall since he arrived. I did wonder how you would react to losing Neil Harris after such a long time with him at the helm, but replacing him with a well-established manager at this level has done you no harm whatsoever.
If you could sign one Millwall player, who would it be and why?
Jed Wallace. What we lack at the moment is goals and Wallace has been impressive notching 10 from midfield. He also creates goals and we have a good creative midfield that I feel he would slot in to nicely.
What is your predicted team and formation?
We made a lot of changes on Tuesday against Cardiff, probably with this game in mind.
I can see it reverting to the 4-4-2 we played against Hull and QPR.
Phillips; Matthews, Lockyer, Pearce, Doughty; McGeady, Cullen, Pratley, Morgan; Bonne, Aneke.
Score prediction?
1-1.
Graphic: @jay_taylor18