'Difficult to be successful against' - Leeds United boss Daniel Farke heaps praise on Millwall and Alex Neil

Millwall will be out to make it a hat-trick of wins against Leeds United this season as they head to Elland Road for their latest Championship contest on Wednesday night.

The Lions beat the Whites 1-0 at the Den back in November, with Japhet Tanganga scoring the only goal of the game. The club were managed by Neil Harris at the time. Millwall faced Leeds for a second time as they were drawn against their Championship rivals in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Femi Azeez scored either side of half time for the visitors as they claimed a 2-0 win to advance to the fifth round, where they lost to Crystal Palace. They are one of the few sides to pick up a win at Elland Road this season and will be out to repeat the feat on Wednesday.

The hosts are aiming for automatic promotion with their battle for a top two spot taking a twist on Sunday as they lost 1-0 to Portsmouth at Fratton Park. Victory for Millwall on Wednesday could move them up to 10th and within five points of the top six. West Brom and Coventry City sit fifth and sixth respectively as the Baggies drew with Burnley on Tuesday and Coventry City lost to Derby County.

Farke hails Neil

Ahead of the game, Leeds boss Daniel Farke was asked about what he expected from Millwall and was nothing but complimentary. He said in his pre-match press conference: “You never know but in general, I spoke quite highly about him and I know he is a very very experienced manager and knows the Championship inside out. His handwriting is always obvious to see. His sides are always there, very competitive and with his handwriting. It's difficult to beat them, and they always show resilience and they go for it.

“They are brave, also, especially also in away games when they can use a bit more like the position against the ball, and then to develop their game out of these situations. A dangerous side, especially also in away games, they have a really, really decent away record and they've proved this more or less also in the last away game so we have to be back at our best, we need to create at least as many shots as we did away at Portsmouth. We just need to find our goalscoring boots in this game and then hopefully when we should get a penalty there is also a penalty reward in this game. We will see. We definitely have to be at our best, it's difficult to be successful against Alex Neil's Millwall side and for that we have to stay pretty, pretty focused.”

Farke discusses atmosphere

Farke has called on Leeds supporters to make life difficult for Millwall on Wednesday. He said: "All the games are big, like we always speak about. But our home games are also crucial and one of my cornerstones once I signed a contract was to make Elland Road a fortress and I think we did in the last season but also this season. This is always the basement for success and we need our supporters, the best supporters in this league, the best supporters in this country.

“And why should everyone not be excited? We have earned 150 - no sorry I'm not allowed to speak about the numbers anyhow - but a lot of money in the last summer, we had to deal with the sale of some of our most important players and right now we are there after 36 games with 76 points.”