Millwall

Image source, Getty Images

There have been plenty of contentious decisions in the 2025-26 Championship season so far.

Offside goals given, perfectly good goals ruled out, red card offences missed, penalties not given, dubious spot-kicks awarded. You name it.

With the video assistant referee (VAR) only used for the play-off final, the outcome of every second-tier game in the regular season can hinge on how on-field officials see incidents in real time.

• Would you want VAR introduced for every league game in the Championship?

• If so, why?

• And if not, let us know your reasons.

You can share your thoughts on VAR here or comment below, and we will publish a follow-up article soon with a selection of your responses.

Millwall manager Alex Neil says that too many key moments went against them in their surprise home defeat to Blackburn Rovers.

The Lions missed the chance to move into the Championship's automatic promotion spots for the first time all season after Middlesbrough had dropped points at lunchtime as two late goals from Mathias Jorgensen saw Rovers come from behind to take all three points.

That came after substitute Luke Cundle had put them ahead but they lost defender Zak Sturge to a controversial red card just before the hour-mark.

"I've watched it back and I didn't feel as though it was a sending-off," Neil told BBC Radio London. "If that's a sending off, you are going to get them all the time.

"He was too far from goal, his touch took him away and we've got three recovering defenders.

"That was a poor decision and we then had two other chances before they got their first goal and they are really key moments.

"There were so many incidents in the game that if they work in your favour, you naturally come out with a positive result and too many of them, and some self-inflicted, were big, big calls in the game."

Millwall could move into the automatic promotion spots when they welcome Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Should Middlesbrough fail to win Bristol City in the lunchtime kick-off, the Lions could overtake their promotion rivals if they extend their winning streak to a fifth consecutive league game.

But Rovers also have a lot on the line, with just one point keeping them safe from the bottom three as things stand and in real danger of dropping back into the relegation zone.

• Millwall have won two of their last 20 league games against Blackburn Rovers (D6 L12), 1-0 home wins in 2019-20 and 2024-25.

• Blackburn have won 16 points in their last seven league games against Millwall (W5 D1 L1), winning each of their last two against the Lions.

• Millwall have lost four of their last six league games when starting the day 20+ points ahead of their opponents in the table (W2), losing 3-1 to Portsmouth most recently in February despite a 20-point pre-match advantage.

• Blackburn have won five of their last eight away league games in London (L3), winning 3-1 at QPR in their most recent capital visit.

• Mihalio Ivanovic has netted in two of his three Championship appearances against Blackburn, including the winner in a 1-0 win at the Den last season.

Image source, Getty Images

Southampton's Tonda Eckert and Millwall's Femi Azeez have won the Championship's manager and player of the month awards for February.

Saints took 13 points from a possible 15 as they went unbeaten last month, finishing with successive wins over QPR and Sheffield Wednesday to move into play-off contention.

Eckert was appointed Southampton's permanent head coach in December having been in interim charge when Will Still was sacked at the start of November.

He has won 12 of his 23 league games, taking the south coast club from 21st place to the race for a top-six finish.

Coventry City's Frank Lampard, Philippe Clement of Norwich City and Millwall boss Alex Neil were also nominated for the manager of the month award.

Though the Lions did win through winger Femi Azeez, who took home the player award after helping the side to win four of their five games in February.

The 24-year-old made five goal contributions, striking a superb volley to open the scoring against Birmingham in their 3-0 win at the Den.

Saints midfielder Leo Scienza was also up for the player award, alongside Sheffield United midfielder Sydie Peck and Sky Blues striker Haji Wright.

Image source, Getty Images

Norwich City boss Philippe Clement, Southampton's Tonda Eckert, Frank Lampard of Coventry City and Millwall head coach Alex Neil have been nominated for the Championship's manager of the month award for February.

The Canaries won four of their five league games last month to move comfortably clear of the relegation zone.

Southampton have climbed to within three points of the play-off places after 13 points from an unbeaten February which included coming from 3-0 down to beat Leicester City 4-3.

Coventry City lost the leadership of the Championship when they opened the month with a draw against Oxford United, but four consecutive wins, followed by back-to-back victories in March, means they are now eight points clear at the top.

Millwall also collected four wins from their five games, including victories at play-off rivals Wrexham and Preston.

The winner of the February award will be revealed on Friday, 13 March.

Nick Hart
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Well, Lady Luck certainly smiled on the Lions on Tuesday night in a tense 1-0 win over a physically-strong Derby County side.

That is three huge points, now putting Millwall just one away from the automatic promotion slot.

Blimey. It was not plain sailing at The Den though.

It has not been often that Millwall's defence has been so pushed around this season. More often it has been the other way around and those 15 clean sheets across the campaign so far have been justifiably earned.

But the Rams will rue a series of missed chances as the game stretched into the last few minutes which culminated in them hitting the post during added time.

An edgy close run thing then, but overall the Lions were good value for their fourth successive win.

If Millwall had taken more of the opportunities they created in the first half, then that frantic finale would have been a little easier on the nerves.

So, can we yet make an outsider tilt at that second spot currently occupied by Middlesbrough?

We will need Boro to drop some points before Millwall visit on Good Friday, but as Blondie once sang, dreaming is free…

Image source, Getty Images

Millwall boss Alex Neil felt his side deserved their hard-fought win over promotion rivals Derby at The Den.

Josh Coburn scored in the 1-0 win and Derby missed a host of chances and hit the post in stoppage time.

But Neil told BBC Radio London: "I thought across the piece, I thought we deserved to win the game. I thought first half, we were the better side. I thought the difference in the game was always going to be who keeps the ball at the top end of the pitch.

"I thought Josh Coburn did that brilliantly for us in the first half and it allowed us to build ourselves into the game and create opportunities. I thought our defenders dealt with their centre-forwards in the first half.

"The players have done fantastically well and we've already beaten our points tally for last season."

Millwall are just a point behind second-placed Middlesbrough, but Neil says he won't be losing any sleep thinking about them.

"I don't really think about Middlesbrough," he said. "I don't think about the pressure. I just think we've got games coming up and we need to try and win them. So, yeah, it will be what it will be."

With Middlesbrough not in action until Wednesday, Millwall can close with within a point of second place in the Championship with a win over Derby County on Tuesday evening (19:45 GMT).

Derby are three points outside the top six as they travel to south London.

• Millwall are unbeaten in their past six league games against Derby, alternating between a win (3) and a draw (3) each time.

• Derby have lost just one of their past eight away league games against Millwall (W3 D4), and are unbeaten in four since a 2-1 loss in August 2018.

• Having lost three of their first four home league games this season, Millwall have now lost just two of their past 14. All five of their defeats at The Den this term have been by more than one goal.

• Derby have lost their past two away league games, last losing more consecutively in January 2025 (4).

• Derby's Ben Brereton has scored four goals in his past five league games against Millwall, with all of those strikes coming with Blackburn between 2021 and 2023.

Image source, Shutterstock Editorial

Alex Neil admitted the result was more important than Millwall's performance after they emerged with a 3-1 victory away to promotion rivals Hull.

The Lions were under pressure for long spells of the game after Jake Cooper's early goal was cancelled out by Joe Gelhardt.

But they triumphed after substitute Mihailo Ivanovic – on to replace the injured Alfie Doughty – tapped in a Femi Azeez cross and Josh Coburn added a third goal on the break.

"I'm not going to say they played well or I was happy with the performance because I wasn't," Neil told BBC Radio London. "But at this stage of the season, it's about winning matches.

"Alfie (Doughty) gets injured so we had to take him off. I think at that point, the way the game was going, Hull were going to win it so I had to make a call.

"I've got no defenders left but what I can do is try and fix the top end of the pitch and make it a bit more of a threat so if we do get the chance to break, we've got a better opportunity to score the next goal.

"Thankfully that's what happened and it helped us win the game. We can certainly play better than we did but I'm delighted for the lads and delighted for the fans that travelled up."

Millwall boss Alex Neil said it feels like his side are playing against their Championship play-off rivals every week as they prepare for Saturday's trip to Hull City.

The two sides are separated by one place and two points going into the match, with the Lions having the chance to go third, at least temporarily, with a victory.

Neil's side have a nine-point cushion over seventh-placed Southampton with 11 games of the season remaining, as they look to seal a return to the top tier for the first time since 1990.

"I think we've played somebody in the top six, it feels like, nearly every week recently," he told BBC Radio London.

"I think they've (Hull) got a bit of bad press at times this season, in my opinion, in terms of people thinking that because [of] the xG (expected goals) and all these other metrics that people talk about. What they are is they're very effective.

"I mean, they're good at what they do. And if we don't play as well as we can, we're going to find that a difficult game.

"They're where they are on merit, as are we. It'll be an interesting game."

Image source, Opta

Fourth and fifth in the Championship face-off on Saturday (12:30 GMT) as Millwall head to the MKM Stadium to play Hull City.

The Lions are fourth, four points behind second-placed Middlesbrough and a point behind Ipswich, in third, after four wins in their past five games, most recently 2-0 at Preston last Saturday.

The Tigers edged to a 1-0 win at Portsmouth last Saturday but went down 1-0 at Ipswich in their rearranged game on Tuesday night, their third defeat in five matches, to remain fifth, two points behind Millwall but with a seven-point cushion to the play-off chasing pack.

• Hull are looking for their first league double over Millwall since the 2012-13 campaign under Steve Bruce.

• Millwall are winless in seven league matches against Hull (D3 L4) since a 2-1 win in April 2022 when Gary Rowett was Lions boss.

• Hull have conceded eight goals in their past three home league games, shipping 2+ goals in each game. They last did so in four in a row in August/September 2022.

• Millwall have won their past three away league games – the Lions last had a longer away winning run between January and March 2018 (6 in a row).

• Femi Azeez has been involved in six goals in his past nine Championship appearances for Millwall (2 goals, 4 assists), with three assists across his past five games.

Image source, Shutterstock

Earlier we asked what you make of the news that, from next season, the Championship play-offs will be expanded to include the teams finishing seventh and eighth?

It was announced on Thursday morning that EFL clubs voted in favour of expanding the play-offs from four to six teams.

Here's a selection of your comments...

Josh, Derby: I don't believe this is necessary. I do think that the play-off format should be aligned throughout the top five leagues, but expanding isn't needed. Better distribution of the monies involved and establishing a clear matchday structure to balance various men's and women's leagues would be a better use of everyone's time. This strikes me undue American influence.

Callum, Dartford: I think it's a good thing so teams can push for promotion that thought they wouldn't get near the play-offs.

Cato, Sheffield: If we adopted it to this season, it means that eighth-placed Derby (on 51 points) have about as much a chance of going up as third-placed Millwall (on 63 points). Plus, to accommodate the extra games, would they extend the season into June? I don't like the idea of it at all, and I hope it's short-lived.

Steve, London: Another example of football being ruined, week by week. Don't you dare think about implementing VAR too.

Mark, Stafford: As a Stoke fan, I think it's good news. The season has come to a grinding halt due to being decimated by injuries. Add to that, the quality of what is coming down from the Premier League, it would mean upsets can happen and still allow teams in that mid-table race to dream of greater heights!

Richard, Stansted: Absolutely ridiculous. What is the point of a league format if you are going to make it a bigger lottery to include even more teams at the end of the season? It also brings teams that are even less ready to actually be in the Premier League into scope. But mostly it's the undermining of the league format which makes no sense. I'm a Derby fan - and we look like we would have a chance of benefiting from this if it were in place this season.

Andy, Nuneaton: Anything that expands the opportunities for those outside of the parachute teams is a good thing. We need to get away from this elite view of the Premier League. If it was up to them, they'd stop automatic promotion and relegation and have a system like Rugby Union, where it's based on meeting certain criteria. The eighth-placed club in the Championship getting to the PL? Bring it on!

Ron, Hayling: Money, Money, Money. Players complain about the amount of games they play with the league games and cup competitions so the intention is to play even more at the end of the season. Owners will make some money but that's all that matters!

Barry, Dartford: Yes it's a fantastic for everyone, all the small teams as well as the big boys, to have something to play for. It will give the end of the season something to look forward to.

Benjamin, Poole: I'm a Charlton fan, so it's unlikely we'll come 8th in the Championship any time soon, however, this is ridiculous. More pandering to Americans to make it more likely they'll make money, which is the only thing they care about. Sporting integrity out of the window again. Shame as I felt the Championship was the last bastion of quality and integrity combined. Game has gone.

Broughton, Derby: Absolute ridiculous, put it back to the old days of three straight up, no play-offs. If you don't make top-three you don't deserve to go up.

Julian, London: The worst decision from a footballing point of view ever! The National League teams have been trying to change their system to be like the current EFL system so it seems a very strange decision for the EFL to take. You can finish 8th after 46 games and still get promoted - sporting integrity has been totally lost with this decision. Money over integrity every time!

Millwall's success this season is down to finding a way to score goals along with their organisation, according to former Reading and Crystal Palace midfielder Jobi McAnuff.

The Lions are currently fourth in the Championship table, four points short of the automatic promotion places but with a nine-point cushion inside the top six and McAnuff, now a regular EFL pundit, is a fan of what boss Alex Neil is achieving.

"What I love about Alex Neil in terms of this season is he knew what they needed," said McAnuff on the BBC's EFL podcast 72+.

"They were consistent in making things difficult and being organised and hard to beat, but you also need to create opportunities and score goals.

"You look at the goals they've been scoring. Femi Azeez has been fantastic but also the players they've brought in to really compliment that organisation and hard working side of things."

Millwall missed out on the play-offs last season by two points when they were beaten at Burnley on the final day of the campaign but McAnuff believes they are better placed this time around.

"They've got that competition for places in the squad in attacking areas and the goals are really flowing," he added.

Millwall visit fifth-placed Hull City in the Championship on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

Millwall boss Alex Neil said his team's defending earned them an important win away to Preston North End.

Neil told BBC Radio London: "It certainly wasn't one for the football purists, the conditions and the pitch make it difficult to play, but in real contrast to the Birmingham game it was a very different challenge.

"I thought we stood up to it brilliantly. I thought we deserved the first goal, we should have scored before that, and we had two or three chances after that in the first half as well.

"In the second half it was always going to be a case of who got the next goal. To be fair to Preston, they threw everything at us but I thought we defended brilliantly."