Like City, the Lions have been one of the Championship’s surprise packages in the regular season
Alex Neil is looking for more success at the MKM Stadium(Image: Tony King/Getty Images)
Alex Neil has urged his Millwall side to have no regrets when the Lions face Hull City in the first leg of their Championship play-off final on Friday night.
Millwall have enjoyed a terrific season, with their 83 points and third-place finish in the Championship their highest in the Football League since 1993/94.
The Lions now face City over two legs for a place in the play-off final at Wembley, and Neil is keen for his players to leave nothing to chance against Sergej Jakirovic’s Tigers, who finished 10 points below them in the final Championship table.
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“My message to the players is you don’t have how many opportunities you’re going to get to sample or be a part of something like this,” Neil said. “So do not have any regrets. Don’t have any fear. There’s nothing to be scared of. If we give it our best shot and we’re not quite there on the day, then at least we can look ourselves in the mirror and live with that.
“But my biggest thing would be, if we undersell ourselves, or we don’t run to the last second, or there’s a little bit of apprehension there, that would certainly hurt me more. This team has never done it once this season, so I wouldn’t expect that we start doing it.
“We’re just going to attack the first game, see what the lay of the land is. If we don’t win the game and we draw it, then we’re coming back to our place. Then we’ll go and try and win it. If we’re not winning or we’re losing, we’ll double down and go and try and win it even more. So we don’t think about what anything might look like after that.
“It’s a two-legged affair, but to be honest, we separate both legs. We’re playing the first game away from home, our away form has been brilliant this year. We’ll go and try and win that game, and then come the end of that game, we’ll know what the scoreline is, and then, depending on that, it will determine how the second leg looks in terms of whether we’re leading, we’re drawing, we’re losing, whatever the case may be.
“I don’t think that our outlook, irrespective of what the first leg looks like, will change or differ in the second leg. I just think that the way we play is the way we play, and that’s not going to change.”
Neil also provided an update on star striker Josh Coburn, who bagged a goal in the 3-1 win at the MKM Stadium in March, but missed the final day win over Ipswich Town with a hip issue.
“Josh has progressed well. This week, he’s been on the grass. He’ll be on the grass again tomorrow, and then we’ll make a decision on him,” the Scotsman explained. “We’ve got two legs to play, and if I decide that Josh is fit and available to play, we’ll potentially play him. The fact is, it’s do-or-die at the moment. We’ve got two games, and we’re going to go try and win both of them.”
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