Meet the opposition: Millwall
As Swansea City aim to return to winning ways in the Championship against Millwall on Saturday, we take a closer look at the visitors from The Den.
What’s their story?
A top-flight side in the late 1980s - with the likes of Teddy Sherringham and Tony Cascarino in their side - Millwall were relegated in 1990 and have been floating around the second and third divisions of English football ever since.
They have played in the Championship or League One since their days in the top-tier, most recently being in the third tier between 2015 and 2017.
Having lost the 2016 League One play-off final to Barnsley, they were promoted back to the Championship under the guidance of Neil Harris following a 1-0 win over Bradford City in the following year’s Wembley showpiece.
The Lions had a respectable first season back in the second-tier last campaign securing an eighth-place finish, just three points behind off the play-off spots.
They currently sit 20th in the table, five points clear of the relegation zone.
How’s their form?
On the up. Despite sitting just five points outside the relegation zone, Millwall have lost just once in their last six Championship outings, while also reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup with a dramatic 3-2 win over Everton.
However, the Lions have won just one of their 14 away games in the Championship, the sole success seeing them come from behind to beat rock-bottom Ipswich on New Year’s Day.
They were unlucky not to secure victory over in-form Middlesbrough last month, conceding a 90th-minute penalty to deny them all three points, while their last outing saw them hold-off relegation rivals Rotherham for a 0-0 draw.
Who’s the boss?
A former Millwall striker, Harris made over 250 appearances for the London club scoring 124 goals across two separate spells at The Den.
Currently the longest serving manager at a Championship club, Harris took the helm at Millwall following the dismissal of Ian Holloway in 2015 having had various stints as caretaker boss at the club.
Resigned to relegation when he took over, Harris’ first full season at the club was in League One where he led them to the play-off final, losing 3-1 to Barnsley.
But Millwall had another successful campaign the following season and, after securing a sixth place finish, reached another play-off final, this time beating Bradford City 1-0 to gain promotion back to the Championship.
Harris also led the Lions to an FA Cup quarter-final that season, knocking out the likes of Bournemouth, Watford and Leicester before losing 6-0 to Tottenham.
Harris went on to take the Lions to within three points of the Championship play-offs following another impressive season, although the going has been tougher this term.
Who are the key men?
Scottish international Jordan Archer and Englishman Ben Amos have shared goalkeeping duties for Millwall this season, making 17 and 12 appearances respectively.
Twenty-four year-old Jake Cooper has played every minute of Championship football this season and has been a stand-out player for the Lions. The English centre-back is the club’s second top scorer with five goals and has more assists than any of his team-mates with six.
Defensive midfielder Shaun Williams has four goals to his name so far this campaign, level with fellow midfielder Jed Wallace.
Striker Lee Gregory is the club’s top goal scorer this season, finding the net on seven occasions while also notching up four assists.
Former Wales international Steve Morison is club captain, while ex-Newcastle winger Shane Ferguson offers pace and trickery out wide or in forward areas.
