Murray Wallace wants Millwall fans to “pack out” Den for FA Cup match against Sheffield United

BY ALEX GRACE

Murray Wallace wants Millwall fans to “pack out The Den” for this weekend’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Sheffield United.

The Lions are looking to reach the fifth round for the third time in the last four seasons.

“We  are excited,” said Wallace. “We played Newport [in the last round] and won 3-0.

“It was a good result and clean sheet, but it will be a different challenge against Sheffield United. They are a Premier League team, doing really well, but those are the sorts of games you want to play in.

“We will see what we can do.”

It remains to be seen whether or not Gary Rowett may revert to the 5-2-3 system against the Blades. Chris Wilder has established a 3-5-2 formation that has brought two promotions in three seasons from League One to the Premier League.

“They are the masters of the 3-5-2 – with the overlapping centre-backs – so it will be a great test,” said Wallace. “I’m just looking forward to seeing if we can pack The Den out and get that atmosphere going again.“

Millwall are banging on the door of the Championships play off places. Victory over Reading on Saturday was a third victory in the last four matches and saw the Lions keep the pressure up on the teams above them.

Wallace put in a man of the match display.

He said: “The most important thing is the win and the clean sheet. The performance in general was really good from the whole team.

“We’ve been guilty of conceding some soft goals, set-pieces [against Cardiff and Luton] and thats an area we pride ourselves on. So it’s obviously a good sign if we are beginning to stop conceding goals.
“They [Reading] have been in form, they have dangerous players, so to limit them to so little chances today was a massive positive for us.”

Since his arrival at Millwall, Wallace has featured more as a left-back or left wing-back rather than a centre-back.

“I feel great,” he said. “It’s a different side to my game. I’m getting involved with more attacks and stuff like that, I’ve adjusted to that, I’ll always put a shift in and today everything clicked.”

A run of just one defeat since November 2 has seen Gary Rowett’s men rise to within touching distance of the play-offs.

The question is can Millwall achieve what they narrowly missed out on in 2018 and secure a top six spot come May?

“The way we played today is a real sign of how good a team we are,” said the Scot. “I don’t see why not.”