ZIAN FLEMMING struck against Preston North End again as Millwall were forced to settle for a draw at The Den.
The Dutchman’s goal came early in the game with the Lions on top but Ryan Lowe’s side will feel like they were good value for their point.
They grew into the game, equalised through Brad Potts and managed to frustrate Millwall, who were improved on last week’s defeat to Queens Park Rangers but not at their best.
The result means they are now 10 unbeaten against Preston but the Lions would have wanted a win to revive the feel-good factor they managed to summon over Christmas.
Given last week’s insipid performance at Loftus Road, Millwall would have been desperate for a strong start.
And that’s what they got thanks to what always seems to happen when Flemming faces Preston. Manager Lowe and defender Jordan Storey told local journalists this week about the need to keep the Dutchman quiet after his five goals in three outings against North End.
And yet the 25-year-old was able to head home unchallenged from inside the six-yard box after a wonderfully delivered cross by George Honeyman just four minutes into the game.
It looked like it would be a comfortable afternoon for the Lions after that start and they continued their superiority over the next 20 minutes.
Clear cut chances were few and far between but Millwall looked fairly comfortable, with the lively Kevin Nisbet – looking to impress with new striker Michael Obafemi watching on from the bench – almost getting in behind thanks to Flemming.
The midfielder would then beautifully pluck an overhit cross out of the air with his right boot and set up a chance for Billy Mitchell, which he hit straight at keeper Freddie Woodman.
Elsewhere, referee John Busby was being admirably lenient and avoided taking out a yellow card for robust and late challenges from Nisbet, Joe Bryan and Preston’s Emil Riis while Japhet Tanganga was enjoying a comfortable 30 minutes on his first Lions start.
But then things would go wrong. Tanganga gave the ball away on the halfway line and Mads Frokjaer-Jensen played the ball down the right where there was a big gaping hole in Millwall’s midfield. Potts strode onto the ball comfortably, took his time and stroked it home, with Wes Harding unsuccessfully trying to clear it off the line.
Almost immediately it became a different game with Millwall shrinking and Preston growing in confidence and having multiple chances before the half-time whistle.
Having witnessed a decent first 30 minutes and then a very shaky final 15, Lions boss Joe Edwards immediately turned to his bench during the break and sent on Romain Esse in place of Ryan Longman, who had spent a few minutes being assessed by medical staff in the first half after clashing with a Preston midfielder.
George Saville and Casper De Norre – who were the first choice midfield before suspension and injury – soon followed Esse on.
And while Millwall improved and controlled the second half, they still couldn’t find the fluency or rhythm they had showed against Middlesbrough, Leicester City or Norwich City in recent weeks.
But they did have chances. Saville and Bryan hit efforts from range that Freddie Woodman saved comfortably while Nisbet couldn’t force the ball home after a couple of goalmouth scrambles minutes apart.
Nisbet then had his best chance of the game when Saville somehow evaded multiple Preston defenders, tore to the byline and crossed it in for the 26-year-old striker. But he lashed his effort over from about seven yards out.
That would be his last chance before Obafemi was introduced for his debut, just four days on from joining from Burnley on loan.
But for all of his energy and pace he did not have the final Millwall chance of the game with Esse instead almost stretching onto a loose corner just before stoppage time.
At the other end, Will Keane and substitute Milutin Osmajic both mis-hit efforts in the box in the dying embers of the game before Matija Sarkic had to deny Potts three minutes into stoppage time.
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Millwall: 3-4-3: Sarkic; Tanganga, Harding, Cooper (c); Norton-Cuffy, Mitchell (Saville 59′), Honeyman (De Norre 59′), Bryan; Longman (Esse 46′), Flemming, Nisbet (Obafemi 77′).
Preston: 3-5-2: Woodman; Storey, Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, Frokjaer-Jensen (Holmes 90+4′), Whiteman, Ledson (Browne 72′), Millar (Brady 63′); Keane, Riis (Osmajic 63′).
Referee: John Busby
Attendance: 14,744 (874 away)