Millwallvs.West Brom

At a time when the Baggies sit in fifth position in the standings, Millwall are in 16th place having recently moved away from the relegation zone.

Match preview

Up until the games played before the international break, West Brom had not recorded successive wins in the Championship since the turn of the year.

That has now changed, the Baggies defeating Huddersfield Town and Bristol City respectively to provide themselves with an eight-point advantage in the playoff race.

With the chasing pack possessing a match in hand, Carlos Corberan will stress to his side that they cannot afford to be complacent, but that should not be the case with West Brom having lost just one of their last 10 fixtures in the second tier.

The loss in question came at home to Southampton, just West Brom's third defeat in 19 league fixtures at The Hawthorns, yet their form away from their West Midlands home has gone under the radar.

Two wins and three draws have been posted in their last five such fixtures, the triumphs coming at Plymouth Argyle and Huddersfield, although this is still a side that have lost more away games (seven) than they have won (six) this campaign.

Meanwhile, Neil Harris is currently working wonders in the Millwall dugout, a total of 10 points being accumulated from a possible 15 since his return to The Den.

Such has been the progress of the Lions that there was genuine disappointment to lose 2-0 at leaders Leeds United before the international break.

Nevertheless, three wins and two clean sheets had been posted from the four preceding encounters, enough to catapult the East Londoners four points clear of the drop zone.

Millwall possess the fourth-worst home record in the division, yet they have prevailed 1-0 in each of their last two fixtures on familiar territory against Watford and Birmingham City.

Millwall Championship form:

L

W

W

D

W

L

West Bromwich Albion Championship form:

W

D

W

D

W

W

Team News

Changes are likely to be few and far between for Millwall, the most likely alteration being Duncan Watmore returning to take the place of Brooke Norton-Cuffy.

Although Matija Sarkic and George Saville have been away on international duty with their respective nations, the goalkeeper and midfield should retain their places.

That is providing that the latter overcomes the calf issue that saw him rested for Northern Ireland's friendly with Scotland on Tuesday.

Corberan has also had to contend with players going away on international duty, with Tom Fellows competing at youth level with England and Mikey Johnston being with Republic of Ireland.

However, the expectation is that both players will feature on the flanks in an unchanged starting lineup, with Andreas Weimann returning to the substitutes' bench after being ineligible to face Bristol City.

Millwall possible starting lineup:

Sarkic; Leonard, Tanganga, Cooper, Bryan; Honeyman, Mitchell, Saville, Watmore; Obafemi, Flemming

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:

Palmer; Furlong, Kipre, Pieters, Townsend; Yokuslu, Mowatt; Fellows, Diangana, Johnston; Wallace

We say: Millwall 1-2 West Bromwich Albion

Of all the teams competing for a playoff spot, it is West Brom that have clicked into gear at the right time. Although Millwall have shown their own improvements, we are backing the Baggies to battle their way to a hard-fought victory at The Den.

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