NEIL Harris believes Millwall’s pre-season fixtures are helping his side play on smaller pitches ahead of the new season.
The Lions are expected to encounter surfaces smaller than that of the 106 meter long pitch at The Den next season and have extend their training ground pitches to mirror what is used at their home ground.
Playing on two small pitches at Bromley and Wimbledon, Harris feels his side have improved their understanding of smaller surfaces.
And with Stevenage on Saturday having a slightly bigger pitch than the aforementioned clubs, Harris believes it will be a good experience for his young squad.
“We’ve extended the pitches at the training ground,” Harris said. “We want them as close as we can to get them to the pitch at The Den.
“We played at Bromley and Wimbledon, two small pitches so far, Stevenage is a little bigger and The Den is bigger than that, so it’s a progression for the players.
“Bromley and Wimbledon have adopted two very different style of play. Bromley had a little bit of football with a little bit of directness. Wimbledon were extremely direct and Stevenage play a bit of football.
“That was the idea of the games, organising them for that purpose, we will come across those types of teams throughout the season.”
Millwall will venture to stadiums with smaller, more compact pitches next season, and Harris has said they he will do as much as he can to secure a home advantage.
“I think it’s definitely going to be different we play on a bigger pitch and we will have to adapt to smaller pitches.
“Teams will come to us that play on a smaller surface, so they won’t be used to playing on a bigger pitch.
“It’s about how you want to play and try to get an advantage on your home pitch.
“When we go away we will be properly prepared, organised and ready for a slightly different game.”
Meanwhile, Millwall’s assistant groundsman Steven Chalk has used Twitter to unveil the new goals that’ll be used at The Den this season:
Our nice new @HarrodUK goals !!! ??? pic.twitter.com/qCKipWrcT8
— Steven Chalk (@stevenchalk7) July 21, 2015