Millwall boss made no attempt to dial down pressure for crunch Championship clash
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk
Alex Neil did not try and play down the importance of Millwall’s 1-0 win over Portsmouth on Tuesday night – admitting he told his players beforehand exactly how high the stakes were.
Successive victories on the road at Luton Town at the weekend and then Pompey have hauled the South Londoners 10 points clear of the Championship bottom three.
Club record signing Mihailo Ivanovic scored both of the winning goals to make it five in all competitions since moving from Vojvodina at the end of August.
“I spoke to the players about the importance of the game,” said Neil, pictured right, talking after the fixture at Fratton Park. “One thing I will never do is try and sort of bluff them about the importance of the match.
“I said: ‘Tonight is our biggest game of the season – we need to go and beat these and put that distance between us and them’.
“The players understand it and you can see what it meant to them.”
Millwall still have three of the current top four to play away – Sheffield United, Burnley and Sunderland.
Neil said: “I don’t fear any team in the league. We understand it may be a different type of game, in how it looks, but we know what we are doing. We know they are going to be hard work but we are building a little bit of confidence at the moment.
“All the games are important – you’re going to have to play the teams at the top at some point. Millwall’s record and my record, over the years, against the top teams has been pretty good.”
PICTURE: ALAMY