Millwall boss will be at Selhurst Park tonight to run the rule over FA Cup opponents Crystal Palace

Millwall head coach Alex Neil will take the chance to be at Selhurst Park tonight to run the rule over Crystal Palace ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup tie between the two clubs.

The Lions face their South London rivals this weekend in the fifth round of the competition.

Palace, fresh off a 2-0 victory at Fulham on Saturday, host Aston Villa tonight in a Premier League contest.

Millwall do not have a midweek assignment.

Neil told the South London Press: “Yeah I’m going to go and watch the game. That will give me an opportunity to go and look at them. We will watch three or four games before we play them anyway – we will be well-versed in what they do.

“The difficulty you always have in the competition is that people always make changes to the team. I’m anticipating they might make one or two. That will bring a bit of a challenge.”

Asked about how he selects the other matches to assess Palace, the Scottish boss said: “Most recent – I would say that is most relevant. You want to be in the mind-frame of what they’re doing currently. What they did two months ago isn’t going to have any relevance in terms of where they are now.

“We spoke about it after Leeds (a 2-0 win which put Millwall into the fifth round), you want a big draw for the fans. You want a big team at home, a local rival, or both.

“Crystal Palace is a Premier League side. It’s a local rivalry and the fans will look forward to it. It’s a great tie.”