Millwall boss Gary Rowett on why Crystal Palace friendly is key to their Championship preparations

Millwall will face Crystal Palace at The Den in a friendly on September 1 – with Gary Rowett wanting his players to be tested before the Championship opener on September 12.

Lions manager Rowett said: “It’s good to face different challenges – you’ve got to have one or two of those from teams above you, because sometimes when you face sides below then you tend to have a little more possession.

“It’s good to play opponents where they will dominate the game a little more and you’ve got to work on those defensive aspects as well.

“Palace is going to be a really good test for us. You have to have those type of games in your programme. I’ve never been the type of manager who thinks ‘let’s play a pre-season where we’ve got a really good chance of winning every single match’.

“You need some where you might face a little bit of adversity.

“They are a very athletic side. They have counter-attacked a lot when I’ve seen them in previous seasons and games. So it could be quite interesting.

“We’ll just try and give ourselves a slightly different physical test that we might get playing some of the lower down teams in the football pyramid.”

PICTURE BY BRIAN TONKS