JOE EDWARDS will manage his first game at The Den against woefully out-of-form Coventry City.
Following the head coach’s stunning 4-0 debut win against Sheffield Wednesday, the challenge is now for Millwall to deliver consecutive league wins for the first since March.
If the Owls were straightforward first opponents for Edwards, Coventry are also not the most daunting opposition on paper having lost four of their last five.
But wins are far from guaranteed for the home side at The Den these days, regardless of the strength of the opposition. It was only three months ago that Reading, now bottom of League One, took a 4-0 victory from south-east London in the Carabao Cup.
The Lions have picked up just a single point from their last four home league games and have lost six of nine home matches in all competitions this season.
Edwards’ arrival seems to have given the Lions a boost and the international break would have given him a chance to spend plenty of time on the training ground with the squad.
Coventry would also have appreciated the extended break as they look to regroup after a wobble that has seen them slide down the Championship table.
Last season’s beaten play-off finalists have drawn more games than any other team in the league, lacking a killer instinct to take three points from matches instead of one. Just like last year, they are off to a shaky start.
Where before the issue was with their stadium’s turf, this season’s early struggles come after they lost their two best players, Viktor Gyökeres and Gustavo Hamer, to Sporting Lisbon and Sheffield United respectively.
Mark Robins, the fifth longest-serving manager in the top four flights of English football, faces the task of trying to get his side going despite losing the quality of the pair.
The players brought in to replace Gyökeres and Hamer have got off to a mixed start.
Former Everton striker Ellis Simms, 22, will be keen to add more goals to his account following his July transfer. His only two strikes from his 16 league appearances both came in an away win at Queens Park Rangers at the end of September, the only victory Coventry have picked up on the road all season.
American striker Haji Wright, who signed from Turkish side Antalyaspor, has four goals in his 16 outings. This includes a brace in Coventry’s last away game, a 3-2 defeat at Preston North End that saw demoted Premier League referee Anthony Taylor give a controversial penalty against Robins’ side.
Coventry went with a back four formation in their last game, a 0-0 draw with Stoke City, having opted for a back three for most of the season. Robins deployed tall forwards Wright and Simms on the flanks either side of Matt Godden in his bid to turn results around.
The last time these two teams met at The Den saw Millwall recover from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in an exhilarating encounter last August.
Jake Cooper, George Honeyman and George Saville all scored to give the Lions a sensational win in August 2022.
Later that season, a second-half goal by Gyökeres was enough to give Coventry a 1-0 win against Millwall on Valentine’s Day at the CBS Arena.
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Stat Station
- Coventry have not won in six matches with four consecutive defeats sandwiched in between draws with Norwich City and, most recently, Stoke. The Sky Blues have also only scored twice in their last five matches.
- Coventry’s only away win from their eight games this season was a 3-1 triumph at QPR. Their three away games since has brought defeats.
- Coventry reached the play-offs last season despite getting off to a poor start, partially due to having a handful of home games postponed due to the state of the CBS Arena turf. They had 20 points from 16 games last season, compared to 16 at the same stage in this campaign.
- Millwall are also worse off compared to this time last season, having 20 points instead of 26 after 16 games.
- The Lions came from 2-0 down to win this fixture 3-2 last season. Three days later, they would pull off another miraculous recovery when two stoppage-time own goals saw them draw 2-2 at Swansea City.
- This will be the 80th meeting between the two sides with their record in this fixture being completely even – 32 wins each, 32 defeats each and 15 draws.
- Matija Sarkic’s return from injury means he will now be in a fight to reclaim the no.1 spot from Bartosz Bialkowski. Keep an eye also on Coventry’s goalkeeping situation – Ben Wilson was dropped for the first time in 61 games for the 0-0 draw against Stoke, replaced by his understudy Bradley Collins.
- Millwall are searching for back-to-back wins for the first time since March.
- Saville, who scored a stunner away at Sheffield Wednesday in the last game, has not scored at The Den since the 3-2 win last year. His last three goals (Wigan Athletic, Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday) have all come away from home. George Honeyman’s only Millwall goal so far was also in this fixture.
- Wes Harding has scored in three of Millwall’s last four games and hit the crossbar against Southampton in the one match where he failed to find the net.
- Coventry trio Joel Latibeaudiere, Josh Eccles and Kyle McFadzean are all one booking away from suspension while Millwall’s Jake Cooper now also sits on four yellows cards after being penalised at Hillsborough. Cooper is the only Millwall player to have played every minute this season. He has started the last 58 league games and has featured in some capacity in the Lions’ last 88 league matches.
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Injury List
Joe Bryan – groin – last match: vs Blackburn Rovers 24th October
Danny McNamara – knee – last match: vs Southampton 4th November – could be fit
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Suspension Watch – players with two or more yellows so far (five yellow cards accumulated in the first 19 games result in a one game suspension)
Jake Cooper – 4 (booked against Middlesbrough, Swansea City, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday)
Danny McNamara – 3 (booked against West Bromwich Albion, Plymouth and Hull City)
Brooke Norton-Cuffy – 3 (booked against Birmingham City, Plymouth and Watford)
Ryan Longman – 3 (booked against Rotherham United, Swansea and Southampton)
George Saville – 3 (booked against Stoke City, Watford and Sheffield Wednesday)
Wes Harding – 2 (booked against Birmingham City and Hull)
Shaun Hutchinson – 2 (booked against Middlesbrough and Bristol City)
Murray Wallace – 2 (booked against Plymouth and Southampton)