Alex Neil tells Sunderland where Millwall are looking to improve ahead of Stadium of Light return
Millwall boss Alex Neil knows where his side need to improve ahead of their date with Sunderland after the break.
Millwall are now among a cluster of teams who have an outside chance of landing a playoff spot, currently sitting on the periphery of the race for a top six spot, six points off.
The Lions left it late to beat Stoke City last time out, but they go into the international break on the back of an important win, knowing their season will be defined by a very tough run of games that awaits them on the other side of the break.
In their next six games, Millwall play five teams who are challenging for either an automatic promotion or a playoff spot, and they are going to have to prove they can mix it with the best if they want to keep their top six hopes alive going into the final games of the season.
Playoff hopes aside, a top-half finish would represent real progress in any case for the Lions, especially given they were forced into an unexpected managerial change during the season following the departure of Neil Harris.
Alex Neil has done a very solid job so far, and there is a feeling that the best is yet to come as eyes turn to a tough-looking clash with fourth placed Sunderland on the other side of the break, another of Neil’s former clubs. It’s a feeling Neil shares, telling his Lions stars where they need to improve as they head into the back-end of the season.
Asked about the late win over Stoke, he said, as cited by Southwark News: “It’s not bad luck. I don’t put anything down to bad luck in football. I think you can have a sequence where things don’t really go your way, you’re a bit unfortunate – like the first goal at Leeds the other day. But I still think you can do better. Don’t give the ball away, make sure you get there first, make sure you get that block in.
“Set pieces in general for and against, I’d like to see better numbers from us because I think we’ve certainly got the power and the size and the presence to do so. I think our delivery at times could be a bit better but equally we want try and keep them out of our net. There’s always things to work on.”
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