Millwall

Millwall boss Alex Neil spoke to BBC Radio London following the goalless Championship draw at West Brom.

"I thought first half we had the better of the game, in terms of clear-cut chances we should score at least one. Josh Coburn's chance is the best of the game," he said.

"We struggled to keep the ball at the top end of the pitch the last 20 or 30 minutes of the game and couldn't muster enough opportunities to win it. I thought if we were going to win it, it would be in the first half if we got the first goal.

"Like I said to the lads afterwards, if you can't win it, just make sure you don't lose it."

Image source, Getty Images

The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Image source, EFL

Millwall striker Josh Coburn has been named the Championship's player of the month for March.

The 23-year-old scored three goals last month as the Lions won two, drew one and lost one of their four matches.

Coburn scored the winning goal against Derby and an important equaliser at promotion rivals Ipswich with his tally for the season currently standing at nine.

It is the second successive month a Millwall player has won the award with winger Femi Azeez taking the February prize.

West Brom defender George Campbell, Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and Derby defender Matt Clarke were also nominated.

Millwall visit West Brom on Friday night (20:00 BST).

Image source, Getty Images

Oxford United's Matt Bloomfield, Tonda Eckert of Southampton, West Brom interim boss James Morrison and Coventry's Frank Lampard have all been nominated for the March Championship manager of the month award.

Bloomfield led Oxford to seven points from their four games last month to give them hope of avoiding relegation from the Championship, while Eckert's Southampton went unbeaten in March - and won at leaders Coventry.

Morrison was handed the task of lifting West Brom clear of the bottom three and took eight points from an unbeaten four-game run.

Coventry have continued their charge towards the Premier League, with Lampard overseeing three wins and just that one blemish in the defeat by Southampton.

Southampton goalkeeper Daniel Peretz and West Brom defender George Campbell are nominated for the player of the month award along with Millwall striker Josh Coburn and Derby defender Matt Clarke.

The winners of both awards will be announced on Friday morning.

Image source, Opta

There's a big game to begin the Championship weekend as relegation-battling West Bromwich Albion welcome promotion-chasing Millwall to The Hawthorns on Friday night (20:00 BST).

Albion are one of the division's form teams, unbeaten in six, claiming 10 points, and with three clean sheets in their past four games.

That run has hauled Albion up to 20th, four points and two places above third-bottom Leicester with five games remaining.

The points are potentially just as precious for the Lions who lie fourth, outside the automatic promotion places on goal difference, though having played two games more than second-placed Ipswich going into this game.

Monday's home defeat to Norwich was a second straight at The Den but Alex Neil's men have only lost back-to-back league games once this season, and that came in December.

• West Brom are winless in their past nine league games against Millwall (D6 L3) since a 2-0 away win in February 2020.

• Following their 3-0 win in October, Millwall are looking to complete the league double over West Brom for the first time since 2001-02.

• Since the start of March, West Bromwich Albion are one of only three sides unbeaten in the Championship (W2 D4), along with Southampton and Ipswich. They've also faced the fewest shots on target (12) and have the lowest xG faced (5.3) in that time.

• Millwall spent three days in 2nd place in early April but are now 4th. In total – up to the night of 9 April – the Lions have ended 168 days in the play-off positions in 2025-26, 43 more than any other Championship side.

• No side have won more away points in the Championship this season than Millwall (36), winning 10 of their 20 games on the road (D6 L4). They last won more than 10 away league games in a season in 2015-16 in League One (11), and have never done so in the top-two tiers of English football.

Nick Hart
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

From Good Friday's heroic win at promotion rivals Middlesbrough to Easter Monday's disappointing home loss to form side Norwich, life with the Lions is never dull.

Let's start with the good news. The second-half performance at the Riverside Stadium was one of the grittiest that I've seen from a Millwall side in a very long time.

Despite the Lions being up against it for the bulk of the match, the story of the day belonged to two-goal ace Josh Coburn, combined of course with a series of top-class blocks and saves by the defensive back line.

Three huge points won that (briefly, it turned out) put Millwall into the prized automatic second spot.

A position that lasted until Monday afternoon, when a very fatigued and 'leggy' looking Millwall side came up short against a strong Norwich City.

I read online that the Canaries were able to rotate five fresh players into their starting XI at The Den from Friday's match - and it must be said that they were the faster and more energetic side.

Despite getting in front via a Mihailo Ivanovic header early in the second half, the hard truth is that Millwall looked jaded compared with Norwich, who ran out deserved winners on the day.

No rest in the hectic Championship, however, as the Lions travel to West Bromwich Albion this Friday night.

Does the Championship promotion race still have more twists and turns in it?

A win at The Hawthorns looks like a 'must' if Millwall are to stay competitive for second place.

Fingers crossed.

Find more from Nick Hart on Achtung! Millwall, external

Millwall head coach Alex Neil told BBC Radio London "nothing is going to be decided yet" after their 1-0 home defeat by Norwich City saw them drop out of the Championship top two.

"We lost Billy Mitchell prior to the game. And I don't think we did well enough in the first half, with Norwich turning the ball over too cheaply, and they had the better chances to score the first goal.

"I had to do something at half-time to try and get us a foothold in the game. I went two up top, and was always concerned with getting more energy in the middle of the pitch.

"We put so much into the Middlebrough win, and if you look at the second goal, we got run off it in the middle area, and that is what cost us the game.

"All the games at this stage of the season are physically and emotionally tough because there is so much riding on them.

"We're not going to win every game. Although today is disappointing and frustrating, even if we'd got a result nothing is going to be decided yet.

"It's going to go to the wire and we've got to just stay in there."

Manager Alex Neil says Millwall's ability to stay in games is one of the biggest reasons they are fighting for promotion to the Premier League.

After being second best for the first half away to Middlesbrough and trailing 1-0, they roared back after the interval as Josh Coburn scored twice to push the Lions up to second.

It came after they fought back in the second half away to another promotion contender in Ipswich Town to claim a point in their last game.

And it means they have a genuine chance of securing top flight football for the first time since 1990.

"We were never coming to come here and pop Middlesbrough off the pitch," Neil told BBC Radio London. "We're not that type of team.

"They're that type of team and I thought at times they were excellent at it. They're a really good side but what we are is even when we're not playing well, we stay in games.

"What we can do when we get our foot on the ball and show a little bit of composure is we can create opportunities and score goals because we've got guys at the top end of the pitch that can finish.

"And I thought today when the chances came along, we took them."

Important games during the Championship's promotion run-in should be played at the same time, according to Millwall boss Alex Neil.

The Lions are fourth in the table, two points behind second-placed Middlesbrough who they visit on Friday (12:30 BST) but Neil feels kicking-off before their other promotion rivals gives them an advantage.

"We've had quite a few of our games moved," he told BBC Radio London.

"I don't think that once you get to this stage of the season teams should regularly be playing ahead of their opponents in the league because then you know what you've got to do in the next game."

Millwall's next four fixtures all kick-off before many of their fellow promotion chasers which Neil feels should be avoided.

"Looking at our fixtures we're going to have played four games prior to the teams around us in the table at the moment knowing what they need going into the game," he added

"Now, if I know I only need a draw out of a game I'm not sure I'd approach it differently but I know there are other teams who potentially would and that's certainly an advantage at this stage.

"We should do our utmost to keep the games played at the same time on the same day so no-one's got an advantage going into each match."

Listen to more Millwall interviews and content on BBC Sounds.

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Championship clubs spent just over £69.5m on agents fees over the past 12 months according to figures released by the Football Association,, external an increase of £6m on the previous year.

The figures cover the period from February 2025 with Ipswich Town the top spenders, paying £11.7m having spent the first three months of the accounting period in the Premier League.

Southampton (£8.3m) and Leicester (£5.8m), who were relegated alongside Ipswich are the second and third-highest payers on the list.

Troubled Sheffield Wednesday were the most frugal when dealing with agents, spending £534,559.

Wrexham come in sixth on the list with an outlay of £3.6m while current Championship leaders Coventry spent just short of £1.5m.

Championship agents' fee spending, external

• Ipswich - £11,738,920

• Southampton - £8,381,358

• Leicester City - £5,866,587

• Sheffield United - £5,005,498

• Norwich - £4,020,206

• Wrexham - £3,660,584

• Swansea - £3,088,645

• Middlesbrough - £2,900,314

• Bristol City - £2,774,990

• Hull City - £2,450,431

• Stoke City - £2,088,886

• Birmingham City - £1,996,502

• Millwall - £1,982,348

• Preston North End - £1,831,233

• QPR - £1,829,036

• Watford - £1,612,833

• Coventry - £1,497,990

• Derby - £1,409,507

• West Brom - £1,346,030

• Oxford - £1,235,536

• Charlton - £904,698

• Portsmouth - £831,818

• Blackburn - £676,980

• Sheffield Wednesday - £534,559

"I don't think that expectation is there externally [for Millwall].

"So I think they can go in and attack this game. They will be the ones with less to lose, whereas Middlesbrough - the pressure is on them. Given the position they're in, it feels like if they don't do it, they are throwing it away."

The 72+ team are joined by Middlesbrough loans manager Tommy Smith to discuss the upcoming contest for second place between Middlesbrough and Millwall on Friday lunchtime (12:30 BST) and why it's the Lions who enter the fixture with the advantage.

Listen to the latest episode of the 72+ podcast on BBC Sounds

A victory or a draw for Middlesbrough against Millwall in Good Friday's early game in the Championship (12:30 BST) will keep them in second until Monday with Ipswich Town not in action until then.

The Lions need a win to move into the automatic promotion places.

• Middlesbrough have won four of their past six league games against Millwall (L2), and are hoping to complete the double over the Lions for the first time since 2014-15.

• Millwall have won just one of their past nine away league games against Middlesbrough (D3 L5), a 1-0 victory in August 2023.

• Middlesbrough are winless in their past four home league games (D3 L1), last having a longer run at the Riverside Stadium in January/February 2024 (5).

• Millwall have won nine of their 19 Championship away games this season – only once have they reached double figures on the road in a single second tier campaign, doing so in 1987-88 when they were promoted to the top-flight (10).

• No player has had more shots (44), more shots on target (11) or accumulated a higher xG (2.4) without scoring in the Championship this season than Middlesbrough's Aidan Morris.