PREVIEW: Millwall v Luton Town

Hatters head to the Den this weekend
Luke Berry on the ball at Millwall last seasonLuke Berry on the ball at Millwall last season
Luke Berry on the ball at Millwall last season

Two wins in a row before the international break have bolstered Millwall boss Gary Rowett's aims to push for a top half of the table challenge in the Championship once more this term.

The Lions have ended the last two campaigns in eighth and 11th, as Rowett navigated his side to a mere two points away from a play-off position in his first season the Den, although fell some 15 points short last term.

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Speaking to the South London Press earlier this month, Rowett quite clearly set out his targets, saying: “We’ve got to be ambitious. We want to be ambitious.

“We are a football club that for a large part of the Championship have done quite well but then maybe dropped down and not done so well.

“We’ve always said that we want to be a team, a club, that can sustain that top half of the table challenge, which as we know is a tough, tough challenge with a lot of the teams in there.

“We need all of our players available, we need a little bit of good fortune with injuries and we need to click a bit in that final third and if we do we will have a very good chance in and around those areas.”

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Millwall hadn't made the best start to achieving the manager's goal this term, tough to beat, but finding wins hard to come by as well.

A 1-1 draw at QPR was followed by another draw and two defeats, as it took them until the final game in August to triumph.

They finally registered three points at home to Blackpool, but then drew four in a row against West Bromwich Albion, Swansea, Coventry and Nottingham Forest.

However, defeating Bristol City 1-0 at the Den and following that up with a 1-0 triumph at Barnsley means Millwall go into this weekend's game on the back of a seven match unbeaten run, moving up to 11th in the table, one point above Luton, scoring just 11 from their opening 11 games, but conceding only 11 too.

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Not a side that has regularly done huge amounts of business in the transfer window under Rowett, Millwall brought in Northern Ireland international midfielder George Saville from Middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee in the summer.

They also used the loan market to sign Liverpool winger Sheyi Ojo and Stoke striker Benik Afobe, plus Arsenal U21s defender Dan Ballard.

Team news: Nathan Jones has reported a virtually clean bill of health for the first time in an age at Kenilworth Road.

Alan Campbell and Admiral Muskwe both got minutes against Bournemouth U23s in midweek, while Tom Lockyer and Fred Onyedinma are also fit, but whether Dan Potts and Danny Hylton are quite ready to come back into first team contention remains to be seen.

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Lions boss Gary Rowett has doubts over Scott Malone (quad) and George Saville (knee), the latter missing Northern Ireland’s 2-1 defeat in Bulgaria on Wednesday.

Mason Bennett might be back after suffering ankle ligament damage in pre-season, but the fixture could come too soon for Connor Mahoney.

Top scorers - Hatters: Elijah Adebayo (5). Lions: Jed Wallace (4).

Milestones: Striker Danny Hylton is one match away from making his 150th appearance for the Hatters.

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Man in the middle: Chris Kavanagh - refereed just four games so far this season, one Champions League clash and two in the Premier League, with 17 yellow cards and no reds.

Last term he had a number of top flight games, plus Europa League and National League contests, also in charge of the Championship play-off final between Brentford and Swansea, dishing out 121 cautions and four reds.

First time he has taken Luton since the 1-0 League Two win over Blackpool in April 2017, courtesy of Ollie Palmer's last minute winner, while he also had the 0-0 draw at Exeter that season.

Kavanagh has officiated four other Luton matches, a 2-0 win over Southend in October 2014, plus a 1-0 home defeat to Woking in the Conference in March 2014.

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He took the 1-0 loss at Southport on the opening day of the 2013-14 promotion-winning Conference season, controversially sending off Steve McNulty and had the 1-1 draw at Macclesfield in February 2013, dismissing home keeper Rhys Taylor on 22 minutes as Town couldn't break through, in a game which manager Paul Buckle quit just hours before.

Assistant referees are Wade Smith and Adrian Waters with the fourth official Dean Whitestone.

In charge: Gary Rowett – started his playing career at Cambridge, earning a £200,000 move to Everton in March 1994.

Sold to Derby County in 1995 and then played for Birmingham City, returning to the top flight when Leicester City paid £3m for him in June 2000, heading to Charlton Athletic two years later for 3.5m, but had to retire from pro football in July 2004 due to a knee injury.

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Did play for Burton Albion in the Conference in 2005, while was assistant to Paul Peschisolido in 2009, taking over permanently in May 2012.

Appointed Birmingham City chief in October 2014, sacked in December 2016 despite leading the club to seventh the season before after a change in ownership.

Named Derby boss in March 2017, joining Stoke a year later, although had his contract terminated in January 2019, becoming Millwall manager in October 2019.

View from the opposition: Boss Gary Rowett – speaking to the South London Press: “Winning games back-to-back is difficult and losing games back-to-back is difficult.

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“But it’s all part of the challenge of a tight and competitive division. I certainly look at Luton as tough opposition.

“I wouldn’t in any way, shape or form say we should win.

"We’ve got to work incredibly hard and make the margins go for us.

"But after two wins on the bounce and unbeaten in seven tough Championship games, we’re obviously going into it confident.

“We’re also aware that we have to be as clinical as we can when we get opportunities.”

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Manager record: Nathan Jones has come up against Gary Rowett three times so far in his career, yet to triumph, with a draw and defeat as Luton boss, plus a loss when in charge of Stoke too, all when Rowett was in charge of Millwall.

Hasn't tasted success against the Lions as well in five attempts, losing 3-1 in the Checkatrade Trophy as Luton chief, before a 0-0 draw as Stoke manager.

One to watch: Jed Wallace – Midfielder started out at Portsmouth, playing over 100 times for Pompey in three seasons at Fratton Park, scoring 30 goals in that time.

That earned a £250,000 move to Wolves in May 2015, but he only played 23 times while at Molineux, scoring twice, with a three month loan move to Millwall in January 2016.

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Returned to the Lions the following season, before in June 2017, signed permanently and has really made the Den his home since.

Managed four goals in 11 outings this term, taking his overall tally to 41 goals in 232 games for the club.

Friendly faces: Fred Onyedinma – Attacker came through the ranks at Millwall, signing for the club at the age of 12, and spent six years with the Lions, playing 151 times and scoring 12 goals.

Had two loan spells at Wycombe in that time, before moving to the Chairboys permanently in 2019 and then joining Luton in the summer, but injury has restricted him to four appearances and one goal so far.

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Town's assistant manager Mick Harford was on the coaching staff at Millwall in the 2005-06 season, returning to the Den in 2013 to become assistant manager to Steve Lomas and then head of scouting, leaving in July 2015.

Luton's head of coaching & player development Adrian Forbes signed for Millwall from Blackpool in January 2008.

He played 16 times for the club, having a loan spell at Grimsby and then left for Blundell Park permanently in July 2009.

Played for both: Steve Claridge - much travelled striker joined Luton in 1992 from Cambridge United, signing for £120,000.

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Only played 20 times, scoring six goals, as he was sold back to the U's for £190,000 just five months later.

Moved to Millwall on loan from Portsmouth in March 2001, scoring three in six games, before joining on a permanent basis that summer.

Had two years with the Lions, netting 30 times in 95 outings, while was named Millwall manager in the summer of 2005, only to be sacked by then chairman Theo Paphitis after 36 days before the season began.

Appointed manager of Salisbury in 2015, who currently sit sixth in the Southern League Premier this season.

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We've got form: Luton have endured a pretty miserable time of it since their trips to Millwall began when the Lions were known as Millwall Athletic back in the 1890s.

They began with a 2-0 defeat in 1895, as the two clubs met in the Southern League, United League and Western League from around the turn of the century.

Luton did put a good run together from 1906 to 1911, going six unbeaten and then carried that on with just two defeats from 15 until 1924 when things started to go wrong, suffering back-to-back 7-0 reverses in Division Three South.

After that, victories have been few and far between, just eight in almost 80 years in fact, two of them coming in the 1930s as well.

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It has naturally been slim pickings in recent times, although Town did win three out of four in the 1990s, but their last victory came in 1999 as Tony Thorpe scored the winner.

Since then, Luton have made six trips to the Den, with just one point to their name, only scoring twice.

In total, the Hatters have made 64 trips, with 13 wins, 16 draws and 35 defeats, scoring 63 goals, drawing a blank on 27 occasions and conceding 122 goals too.

Last time out: Luton went down to a 2-0 defeat on their last trip to the Den in October 2020, as they managed to keep their hosts out until the stroke of half time when Martin Cranie diverted Matt Smith's header into his own net.

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After the break, Connor Mahoney made sure of victory with 11 to go, as his angled drive beat Simon Sluga to nestle into the corner of the net.

Hatters: Simon Sluga, Martin Cranie, Rhys Norrington-Davies, Sonny Bradley, Matty Pearson (George Moncur 87), Glen Rea, Luke Berry (Joe Morrell 60), Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Jordan Clark, Kazenga LuaLua, Danny Hylton (Elliot Lee 69).

Subs not used: James Shea, Tom Lockyer, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Harry Cornick.

Referee: Tony Harrington.

Attendance: None.