Match Preview: Millwall v Sunderland - all you need to know ahead of kick-off!

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Saturday 4th February 2023

(8th) Millwall v Sunderland (9th)

Championship

The New Den

Kick-Off: 15:00

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Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets sold out.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage is available via www.safc.com.

Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.com!

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The build-up...

It’s back to the bread and butter of the Championship this weekend as the Lads entertain Millwall at the Stadium of Light.

This week the bad news we were all expecting was confirmed when it was announced that Ross Stewart will miss the rest of the season through an Achilles injury. Which means Tony Mowbray has decisions ahead of kick-off this afternoon.

Does Mowbray throw in 20-year-old Joe Gelhardt who was only signed on-loan last week from Leeds United, or will he go for something similar to how we lined-up in the absence of Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms earlier this season?

Mowbray also has new recruits in the form of Isaac Lihadji, Joe Anderson and Pierre Ekwah to assess and decide how close they are to first team action.

We go into the fixture at the New Den on an impressive run of form away from home with four wins and two draws from our last six fixtures on the road in all competitions. With the current gap between 3rd and 12th position only six points, ourselves and Millwall will be looking to cement our place as one of those sides chasing the top six with victory today.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

We have to go all the way back to 1995 to find our last victory over Millwall at their place, goals from Martin Scott, from the spot, and Martin Smith gave us a 2-1 win on what was also David Kelly’s debut for the club. In all fairness we’ve only travelled to the capital to take on Millwall three times since then but 28 years is still a fair amount of time to wait for a win at the New Den.

Gary Rowett has the current Millwall side in good shape at the moment. Since our strange 3-0 win at the Stadium of Light back in early December they have been in decent form, only losing one in six in the Championship where the only defeat came at in-form Middlesbrough.

On home soil they have the third best record in the division with only two defeats in thirteen along with the best defensive record on their own patch having only conceded eight all season, which to put into context, Middlesbrough and Burnley are the next best defensive record at home having conceded twelve.

During January, Millwall were chasing a record transfer deal but Hibs turned down an offer of over £2 million for striker Kevin Nesbitt. With the window closed their main additions came in the form of Duncan Watmore for undisclosed fee from Middlesbrough and Oliver Burke from Werder Bremen.

Both sides are in-form and it’s a tough one to call this afternoon.

Photo by Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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The betting...

The bookies fancy a home win this afternoon with odds of 21/20 for Millwall to take maximum points, with the Lads priced at 13/5 to take the spoils and the draw is around 9/4.

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Head to head... at Millwall

(All competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 5
• Draws: 5
• Millwall wins: 10
• Sunderland goals: 19
• Millwall goals: 27

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Last time we met... at the New Den

Saturday 3rd March 2018

Championship

Millwall 1-1 Sunderland

[Hutchinson 65’ - Oviedo 29’]

Sunderland: Steele, Matthews, Kone, O’Shea, Browning, Oviedo, Cattermole, Ejaria, McManaman (Asoro), McGeady (Honeyman), Fletcher Substitutes not used: Camp, Jones, Robson, Williams, Maja

Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Meredith, Williams, Hutchinson, Cooper, Wallace (Cahill), Saville, Gregory, Morison, Marshall (Onyedinma) Substitutes not used: Martin, McLaughlin, Shackell, Tunnicliffe, Elliott

Attendance: 14,358

Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Getty Images

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Played for both...

John Colquhoun

Colquhoun started out at Stirling Albion in the early 1980’s before Celtic snapped up the tricky winger in 1983. After two years at Parkhead, a move to Heart of Midlothian kickstarted his career and he spent a successful six years Tynecastle, that included being capped twice for Scotland, ahead of coming south of the border.

Millwall brought him to England in the summer of 1991, and after one year in the capital, Malcolm Crosby brought him to Roker Park. In a tough season for all concerned, where Crosby was also replaced by former Ranger defender Terry Butcher, Colquhoun failed to nail down a starting position or find the net.

After one year Colquhoun returned to Hearts, as part of the deal that brought Derek Ferguson to Roker, and spent four more years there before retiring in 1997 after a brief stint at St Johnstone.

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