Four takeaways from Millwall’s 1-1 draw with QPR – as Jed Wallace straight into the goals

Jed Wallace – such a key attacking threat for Millwall – helped earn a point on the opening day of the 2021-22 Championship season.

The attacker produced a precision strike to put the Lions 1-0 up in a high-intensity derby.

But centre-back Rob Dickie levelled in the 31st minute as he punished a lack of closing down from any Millwall players as he broke strongly into the opposition’s half.

JED IS OFF AND RUNNING AGAIN

Jed Wallace has scored double figures in his last two seasons and didn’t take long to get off the mark in the new campaign. It was a lovely left-footed finish from the edge of the box and the 27-year-old ran back down the other end of the pitch to celebrate with Millwall’s travelling support. It is the third time in his career that he has scored on the opening day of the season – he did it for the Lions in a 1-0 win over Preston (2019-20) and for Portsmouth in a 1-1 draw at Exeter (2014-15).

COME FEEL THE NOISE

It’s stating the obvious, but having supporters back in stadiums is absolutely brilliant. Millwall had 2,500 fans in the away end at Rangers and they played their part in a red-hot atmosphere. There was a rousing rendition of ‘No One Likes Us’ shortly before kick off in west London. The Den is going to be back to a place that visiting teams don’t relish.

BALLARD BOW

Jake Cooper’s absence due to a slight back injury meant that Murray Wallace played on the left of a back three. And there was also a debut for Daniel Ballard. The Arsenal loanee struggled in an early footrace with the rapid Chris Willock, but could be very content with his first outing for the South London club. Charlie Austin was only the most sporadic of threats for Rangers with Lyndon Dykes also struggling for scoring opportunities.

FAIR RESULT

The last time that Millwall failed to take anything from their first away game of the season was August 2017, their first back in the Championship after promotion via the League One play-offs. The Lions made a really impressive start at QPR to deservedly go ahead but then struggled to test Seny Dieng enough with efforts by Benik Afobe and George Saville both lacking the cleanest of connections. Bialkowski turned efforts from Austin and Willock around the post – but was beaten from distance by rampaging centre-back Rob Dickie. The second half was disrupted by frequent stoppages, both sets of players feeling the effects of a high-tempo contest.