Ipswich Town will visit Millwall hoping to keep their hopes of a top-two finish alive. On Sunday afternoon, the Tractor Boys shared the spoils with West Bromwich Albion. The Lions lost by a slender margin to playoff-hopeful Coventry City.
Preview (Millwall vs. Ipswich Town)
In his first Championship start since Millwall chose to fire Gary Rowett and install Joe Edwards. The 18-year-old Ronan Esse gave the visiting Lions the lead at the Coventry Building Society Arena. It was his second goal of the season, but they lost ground from a winning position once more. After Millwall had opportunities to double their lead, the Sky Blues turned the tide in the second half. Summer signing Haji Wright scoring an outstanding brace. As a result, the Lions have now dropped four of their previous five games in the second tier and have only picked up one point in that run.
After three straight wins after the holiday season, it seemed as though Edwards’s team may start to climb steadily up into the top six. However, after a concerning sequence of results, the Lions are currently just four points ahead of Queens Park Rangers in 22nd place, sitting in 18th place. Due to the inability of players like Tom Bradshaw and the dynamic Dutchman Zian Flemming to reach their previous season’s goal-scoring levels under Rowett, Millwall entered the January attacker transfer window and signed Adam Mayor and Michael Obafemi from Premier League Burnley and League Two Morecambe, respectively.
Edwards’ crop has already lost seven games at The Den this season, winning only four out of fifteen. Last season, the Lions turned The Den into a fortress as they roared into the playoffs. They lost just six of their 23 Championship games at their South London home. After a 2-2 draw with Carlos Corberan’s West Brom on Saturday afternoon in East Anglia, Ipswich has now only won one of their past nine Championship games. Things could have been much worse for the top two chasers as they went into the penultimate moments of the match behind.
Team News
Kevin Nisbet is the top goalscorer for Millwall. He will have to fight to play this season after sustaining a significant hamstring injury at the end of January. Ryan Longman, a Hull City loanee, sustained a shoulder injury in the team’s defeat at Deepdale earlier this month. The winger will be out until March. The Lions are unsure if full-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy has a hamstring issue or is simply tired. The full-back missed Sunday’s game against his former employers, Coventry.
George Hirst will be out for Ipswich on Wednesday night due to a hamstring injury he suffered against Leicester on Boxing Day. Luke Woolfenden or George Edmundson may be benched as Cameron Burgess is expected to be eligible for selection after his performance for Australia at the Asian Cup. Due to a knee injury, Lee Evans is probably going to miss the rest of the season, although Brandon Williams is expected to make a comeback after his own fitness problems.
Millwall 1-2 Ipswich Town
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