‘End up full of regret’ – Alex Neil wants Millwall to keep play-off hopes alive until last game of Championship campaign
Alex Neil is urging his Millwall side to keep their Championship play-off hopes alive until the final day of the season after a crucial 3-1 win over his former club Norwich City on Easter Monday.
The victory, combined with defeats for Bristol City, Coventry, Middlesbrough, and West Brom, has brought the Lions to within three points of the top six with two matches remaining. However, Millwall’s inferior goal difference means their margin for error is pretty much non-existent.
Monday’s result marked Millwall’s ninth win in their last 16 league outings, a run that has seen them make a late charge for the play-offs.
“Belief stems from performances and winning,” said Neil. “When you don’t get results, belief naturally takes a bit of a dent. But what rebuilds it is determination, organisation, and putting everything on the line—working as hard as you possibly can. All the fundamentals that make a successful team—I think we’ve got all of them.
“What I think we need is time together as a group. I said to the lads afterwards, I’ve been involved in football a long time, and it’s a privilege to coach them right now. Their application, the way they approach training, and how they treat each other—it’s a brilliant group.”
Millwall now face a red-hot Swansea side on Saturday, with the Welsh club on a five-game winning streak. They then close out their season away at already-promoted Burnley, who may still be in contention for the Championship title when the two teams meet on May 3.
Despite the uphill challenge, Neil remains optimistic.
“When you say a lot has to happen—a lot happened today,” he said. “If the other results didn’t go our way, our win wouldn’t have meant anything. But they did, some of the teams above us still have to play each other, so if we can go and win the next game and take it to the last day, anything can happen. What we can’t do is approach a game lightly and end up full of regret if everything went our way.
“It was interesting—at half-time, I was told that all the other results were going our way. It was swirling in my head whether to tell the players or not. In the end, I did, because if I were a player, I’d want to know what’s riding on the game. I told them just before they went out for the second half, and you could see the determination and hunger they had to get across the line.”
PICTURE: BRIAN TONKS
