MILLWALL will be on a mission to revive their flagging campaign when they welcome Sheffield Wednesday to The Den tomorrow.
The Owls have previously proven to be the perfect opponents for the Lions in Joe Edwards’ first game in charge, when the 37-year-old swooped in and delivered an impressive 4-0 victory at Hillsborough back in November.
But just 17 games later, the atmosphere could hardly be more different than that day up in Yorkshire, which ended with away fans looking like they were at a Taylor Swift concert as Edwards triumphantly punched the air at full-time.
Things that had once seemed so optimistic now seem gloomy following that 4-0 defeat against Ipswich Town on Wednesday night.
There were no positives to latch onto nor signs that things would improve and it suddenly became clear that the next few months might not be inconsistent mediocrity in mid-table but instead a stressful battle to stay in the division.
Plenty could hinge on tomorrow’s clash with Millwall, fourth-bottom, four points clear of third-bottom Queens Park Rangers and seven clear of second-bottom Wednesday. All three teams have 14 games left.
With QPR travelling to Bristol City, the Lions will know that victory tomorrow could relieve the swell of pressure that has been building since their last win on New Year’s Day. But if they were to lose to Wednesday – who haven’t won at The Den since 2015 – the heat in the kitchen could rise to uncomfortable levels.
It’s a big task for Edwards, who faces the biggest game of his managerial career so far but it is also a big day for the players.
While their head coach faces flak for the style of football and the poor run of results, many fans were also left unimpressed by the almost passive defending as Ipswich – who had won one of their last nine and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Maidstone United – repeatedly waltz through the backline without even trying particularly hard.
The night before Millwall’s struggles, Sheffield Wednesday had failed to get a grip of Leicester City’s front players and lost 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.
Victory away against the league leaders was always going to be a big ask and Wednesday will still have belief from the game before Leicester, a hard-fought Friday night 2-0 win over Birmingham City.
Danny Rohl was appointed manager of the Owls in October after the sacking of Xisco Munoz and has done his best to repair the damage.
After Wednesday began the season with eight defeats and three draws, Rohl has managed to make the Yorkshire side more competitive.
Like Millwall, they also showed some strong form over the festive period and won three of five games up to New Year’s Day.
But results has been harder to come by since and they have already suffered bruising 4-0 defeats to Southampton and Huddersfield Town during a calendar year which has so far been one step forward and two steps back at times.
Their most dangerous players include quick winger Anthony Musaba, new January loan signing Ike Ugbo who scored twice in the win over Birmingham, and 18-year-old striker Bailey Cadamarteri who has been having a breakout season since making his league debut in that 4-0 defeat to Millwall.
Joe Bryan will serve the second game of his three-match suspension after picking up a retrospective punishment for an altercation with Coventry City’s Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. But others, including Aidomo Emakhu, Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Ryan Longman and Michael Obafemi, will be pushing to return from injury and illness.
– Stat Station –
- There are some staggering stats have emerged from Ipswich’s win on Wednesday. It was their third-biggest win ever at The Den following triumphs of 5-0 in 1956 and 6-1 in the FA Cup in 1978. It was also the second time Millwall have lost 4-0 at home this season following the Carabao Cup loss to Reading back in August.
- Incredibly it was Millwall’s biggest home league loss since 2015 when they fell to a 4-0 defeat to Coventry. With Joe Edwards beginning his reign with a 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, it means that over the course of just 17 league games the 37-year-old head coach has been responsible for both Millwall’s biggest league away win since 2015 and biggest league home loss since 2015.
- Fans have now gotten used to heavy defeats at The Den which were fairly rare not that long ago. Wednesday night was the Lions’ 10th home defeat in all competitions this season, already two more than the 2022-23 season. It was also the fifth time they had lost by more than the odd goal at home in the league this season. The last two full seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23) combined had seen Millwall lose just twice by more than one goal at The Den.
- 4-0 has become a theme of both Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday’s season. Millwall have now lost to that scoreline to both Ipswich and Reading and beaten Wednesday with it. Along with that loss to the Lions, the Owls have lost 4-0 to Southampton and Huddersfield Town but beaten Cardiff City 4-0 in the third-round of the FA Cup.
- Wednesday have lost 13 of their 16 away games this season. They drew 0-0 at Leeds United in September before winning 1-0 at Stoke City and Preston North End in December.
- The Lions last lost four league games in a row in March 2019, almost five years ago.
- Millwall have still yet to win at home in 2024. They are also unbeaten in their last six games against Sheffield Wednesday.
Injury List (4)
Aidomo Emakhu – ankle – last match: vs Bristol City – January 1 – Could return
Kevin Nisbet – hamstring – last match: vs Preston – January 27 – Minimum two months out
Shaun Hutchinson – calf – last match: vs Bristol City – January 1 – Expected to still be out
Brooke Norton-Cuffy – hamstring/fatigue – last match: vs Hull – February 3 – Could return
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Suspension Watch – players with two or more yellows so far (10 yellow cards accumulated in the first 37 games will result in a two game suspension). Anyone whose entire line is in bold will be suspended for this match.
Jake Cooper – 8 (booked against Middlesbrough, Swansea, Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland, Leicester, Stoke and Norwich)
George Saville – 7 (booked against Stoke, Watford, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry, Sunderland and Leicester and Ipswich)
Murray Wallace – 6 (booked against Plymouth, Southampton, Coventry, Leicester, QPR and Hull)
George Honeyman – 5 (booked against Ipswich, QPR, Norwich, Middlesbrough and Preston)
Ryan Leonard – 5 (booked against Plymouth, Cardiff, Norwich, Bristol City and Ipswich)
Wes Harding – 4 (booked against Birmingham, Hull, Leicester and Stoke)
Brooke Norton-Cuffy – 4 (booked against Birmingham, Plymouth, Watford and Bristol City)
Ryan Longman – 4 (booked against Rotherham, Swansea, Southampton and Middlesbrough)
Zian Flemming – 4 (booked against Watford, Ipswich, QPR and Preston)
Danny McNamara – 4 (booked against West Brom, Plymouth, Hull and Ipswich)
Joe Bryan – 3 (booked against Middlesbrough (x2) and Hull). Banned for this game after receiving three game retrospective FA punishment
Billy Mitchell – 3 (booked against Norwich, Stoke and QPR)
Casper De Norre – 3 (booked against Hull (x2) and Ipswich)
Shaun Hutchinson – 2 (booked against Bristol City and Cardiff)
Aidomo Emakhu – 2 (booked against Preston and QPR)
Duncan Watmore – 2 (booked against Sunderland and Norwich)