Josh Coburn will be disappointed to miss out on a first-half sitter as Millwall were forced to settle for a goalless draw with impressive West Brom, who took a huge step towards remaining in the Championship.
On Friday, Coburn, who was named March’s player of the month after scoring three goals in three games, left his shooting boots at home as he made a wide deflection of Tierno Baro’s close-range ball.
The points move promotion-chasing Millwall into the top two, but the Lions have been unable to make the most of this weekend’s top-flight attack, leaving Ipswich and Middlesbrough just one point ahead of Saturday’s game. The Tractor Boys also have three games remaining at Millwall.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Josh Coburn absent from Millwall sitter against West Brom
The draw means Coventry could earn promotion to the Premier League if the Sky Blues beat Sheffield Wednesday at lunchtime on Saturday and Middlesbrough fail to win.
West Brom are on a seven-game unbeaten run to stay alive and have a five-point buffer in the drop zone. Millwall had more clear chances, but West Brom themselves will be disappointed not to have taken all three points.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Mihailo Ivanovic flies from range and hits Millwall’s bar in the Championship vs. West Brom
Millwall were in charge in the first half, but Mihailo Ivanovic’s long-range shot hit the bar as well. However, second place was West Brom.
Albion had moments of dominance throughout the 90 minutes, but the only time they tested Nathan Patterson was in the 82nd minute when he denied Jason Molumby from close range.
Daniel Imlay’s back-post intervention also stopped Tom Watson’s West Brom clean sheet.
All eyes are now on Coventry’s trip to Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich’s trip to Norwich, both of which will be broadcast on Sky. All eyes will be on how Middlesbrough deal with Portsmouth.
managers
West Brom’s James Morrison:
“I’m really happy. After the international break, three games in a week, we kept pushing until the end. Our legs were tired but the ball just fell to us.
“In the first half they looked dangerous and had a lot of counter-attacks, but we solved it.
“We are standing here very happy because we are fighting and pushing. We had a little more quality in the final third and I was happy with that as well.”
“I’m going to watch (Saturday’s game) with a little bit of nervousness. This is the decisive moment.”
Alex Neil of Millwall:
“A point is good, you always want to get a point. We had the best chance through Josh Coburn and we had a good chance to win the game. I think they had one chance in the first half.”
“You can see at the end… in the second half we started to get tired. The players were twitching and starting to get nervous. We made six changes, including the concussion sub, to freshen things up.”
“We’re not dependent on anyone. Our goal is always to get as many points as possible. We’re not focused on what other teams are going to do. We’re just focused on us. That’s another point on the board. We’re focused on getting as many points as possible, one game at a time.”
“I always tell the players, if you can’t win a game, don’t lose a game. We got the points, we have four games left and we’ll try to win them all.”
