City haven’t done the league double over Millwall since the 2012/13 season under Steve Bruce, when they won promotion
Alex Neil knows what to expect from Hull City on Saturday after seeing his Millwall side beaten before Christmas(Image: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)
Alex Neil says it’s’ no fluke that Hull City are nestled on 60 points after 35 games of the Championship season, as the Millwall boss looks to gain revenge for their 3-1 loss at The Den back in mid-December.
Like City, Millwall are enjoying a fine season and sit inside the top six, although they dropped from third to fourth on Tuesday night after Ipswich Town ended the Tigers’ five-game winning run at Portman Road.
Neil’s side have won four of their last five and three on the spin away from home, but face a City side looking to bounce back to that setback in Suffolk, knowing that victory would seem to leapfrog their South London opponents.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page
In their last three games, which have seen them claim wins over Derby County and Portsmouth before that loss in midweek, Sergej Jakirovic’s side have managed only five shots on target.
Such stats have seen many observers suggest that City are in a false position, but Neil refutes those claims and believes the Tigers are sitting inside the top six on merit, following on from Tractor Boys’ manager Kieran McKenna, who said similar earlier this week.
“They’re very dangerous, Hull,” the Lions boss told Southwark News. “As far as stats and different things like that go, they’re a bit of an outlier in the league.
“That makes them really dangerous, in the fact that they don’t need to play well to win. But at times, people unfairly say that they don’t ever play well, and that’s certainly not true. I’ve watched a lot of games this year where Hull have been excellent.
“But what I think they’re capable of, even when they’re not fully at it, they carry a real threat. That’s a great thing to have in your armoury.
“They are where they are on merit. They deserve to be where they are. You don’t get to where you are over 35 games unless you’ve got a level of consistency, and they’ve certainly shown that.
“We’ve got the utmost respect for Hull. They beat us earlier in the season at our place, which wasn’t a good day for us. We’re going to have to perform well if we want to get anything there.”
Here at Hull Live, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group.
You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.