Wed 26 Jul - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 2mins
Derby County are in the final week of their pre-season campaign and just one game separates them from the start of the new Sky Bet Championship season next Friday.
Since the middle of July, dcfc.co.uk has been profiling each and every one of the clubs Gary Rowett’s men will face over the coming year.
Yesterday, we looked at one of the side’s coming day from the Premier League. Today, we look at one of the clubs returning to the second tier after two years away…
Manager: Neil Harris
Nickname: The Lions
Stadium Capacity: 20,146
Finishing Place Last Season: 6th, Promoted from League 1 via the Play-Offs (73 Points)
Top Scorer (2016/17): Lee Gregory (17 Goals)
Promotion Odds (According to Coral): 20/1
Home – Saturday 23rd December 2017 (kick-off: 3pm)
Away – Saturday 27th January 2018 (kick-off: 3pm)
Derby County 0-0 Millwall
Millwall 3-3 Derby County
Millwall are back in the Sky Bet Championship.
A brief two-year stay in League 1 came to an end as they kept their bottle in the lottery of the play-offs and also reach the quarter-finals of the Emirates FA Cup.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Lions, though, their promotion challenge was one that went right down to the wire.
Millwall qualified for play-offs in sixth position by a single point thanks to their much-improved form over the course of the New Year.
Millwall, who are managed by club legend, Neil Harris, overcame both Scunthorpe United in the play-off semi-final and promotion favourites Bradford City in the final in order to bounce back to English football’s second tier at the second time of asking.
As was mentioned earlier, Millwall also had a strong cup run to occupy themselves with too and made the headlines as they reached the final eight of the competition.
After overcoming Southend United and Braintree in the first and second round respectively, Millwall overcame three Premier League outfits in a row by beating AFC Bournemouth, Watford and the then reigning English champions Leicester City.
All of those results came on home soil and is an indicator in itself as to how important Millwall’s home form could be this season.
Their remarkable run came to an abrupt end at the hands Tottenham, but Harris’ men had already proven they are more than a match for anyone – especially at their intimidating home stadium, The Den.
Ahead of their first season back in the Championship for two years, safety looks to be the main priority as Harris’ builds on what have already proved to be very solid foundations.
