Two sides hoping to improve on difficult starts to the Championship season will do battle at The Den on Wednesday, as Millwall entertain Rotherham United.

Both sides suffered defeats on their return to action from the international break at the weekend, leaving them 18th and 21st in the league table respectively after six rounds of games.

Match preview

After falling just short of the playoffs by a single point last season under the management of Gary Rowett, following a final-day defeat, Millwall headed into the new Championship campaign with the aim of putting another top-six bid together and pushing towards a first promotion to England's top flight since their relegation in 1990.

The Lions travelled to fellow playoff-hopefuls and last season's fourth-placed side Middlesbrough on the opening day and enjoyed a perfect start, putting three points on the board in their curtain-raiser as Romain Esse netted the only goal of the game 11 minutes from them at the Riverside Stadium.

They have been unable to follow that up as planned since, though, with the London outfit having only added four further points to their tally in the five attempts since, firstly suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of Bristol City and Norwich City, before scoring an important 1-0 triumph at home to Stoke City thanks to Kevin Nisbet's first-half goal.

Rowett's men then went into the break on the back of a 1-1 draw away at Birmingham City, in which Nisbet again opened the scoring and Jay Stansfield forced a share of the spoils with a second-half leveller, before they returned to action at home to Leeds United on Sunday and came away empty-handed.

Joel Piroe put the visitors ahead inside 15 minutes and netted his second in the 77th minute before Georginio Rutter added insult to injury, adding a third to wrap up a 3-0 away victory, and Millwall will now be desperate to put that disappointment behind them and make a return to winning ways on home turf, with pressure on Rowett ramping up.

They welcome a Rotherham United side who will also aim to bounce back from a defeat last time out, having only managed four points from their six outings thus far in their bid to again avoid relegation under the management of Matt Taylor this season.

The Millers endured a particularly disappointing start, suffering a 4-1 thrashing away at Stoke City in their curtain-raiser and surrendering a 2-0 lead at home to Blackburn Rovers in their second outing, having gone ahead through Hakeem Odoffin and Fred Onyedinma, only for Sammie Szmodics to force a 2-2 draw with a quickfire brace in the final 15 minutes.

Rotherham's woes would certainly continue in the following two weeks, albeit in difficult tests, as games against Sunderland and Leicester City both ended in 2-1 defeats, before Taylor's men dropped out of the EFL Cup with a 6-1 beating at the hands of Stoke.

Left wounded and with just one point on the board from four outings, the South Yorkshire outfit were able to find a crucial win heading into the break, as they beat high-flying Norwich City 2-1 at the New York Stadium, courtesy of goals from Dexter Lembikisa and Jordan Hugill, only to fall short in an important meeting away at fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town on their return to action on Saturday.

Goals from Josh Koroma and Sorba Thomas in the first and second half respectively sealed a relatively comfortable victory for the hosts, leaving Rotherham 21st with just four points at this early stage, and desperate to avoid being cut adrift early in the fight for survival, they will seek to right Saturday's wrongs in midweek and leave The Den with a positive result.

Team News

Millwall were without several key men for their Leeds clash, with first-choice goalkeeper Matija Sarkic and captain Shaun Hutchinson both sidelined by injuries, and Rowett will again be unable to call on the duo on Wednesday, meaning Bartosz Bialkowski will continue to deputise for the former between the sticks.

Without Hutchinson, Rowett could again line the Lions up with a back three, with Ryan Leonard and Murray Wallace flanking key man Jake Cooper, while Allan Campbell and Billy Mitchell will hope to keep their places in the engine room amid competition from George Saville, with Zian Flemming also fighting to return from the outset in an advanced role.

He could lend support to the strike pairing of Tom Bradshaw and Kevin Nisbet, with the latter having netted two Championship goals thus far since his summer arrival from Hibernian, while the former starred last season with 16 second-tier goals.

Rotherham United continue to deal with injury concerns of their own, with defenders Lee Peltier and Grant Hall and midfielders Cafu and Jamie Lindsay all confined to the treatment room ahead of Wednesday's trip to The Den.

Taylor does still have options, though, and Tyler Blackett and Cameron Humphreys should again be preferred at the heart of the back four, while Oliver Rathbone, Christ Tiehi and Hakeem Odoffin will all fight to keep their places in the engine room with Sm Clucas now providing more competition, having made his debut off the bench at the weekend after joining the Millers last week.

At the top end of the pitch, Jordan Hugill, who opened his account for the campaign in the win over Norwich after helping them secure survival with five league goals in the second half of last season, will again be given the nod to lead the line, likely with support from Fred Onyedinma and Andre Green on the wings.

Millwall possible starting lineup:
Bialkowski; Leonard, Cooper, Wallace; Norton-Cuffy, Mitchell, Campbell, Longman; Flemming; Bradshaw, Nisbet

Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Lembikisa, Humphreys, Blackett, Bramall; Rathbone, Tiehi, Odoffin; Green, Hugill, Onyedinma

We say: Millwall 2-1 Rotherham United

Spirits are certainly not high around The Den after their tough start to the season, but Millwall do still boast plenty of quality, and we fancy them to bounce back at home to a struggling Millers side on home turf on Wednesday.


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