Millwall welcome Stoke City to The Den this Saturday (3pm K.O). It is an important game for both clubs, who see themselves sitting in 17th and 23rd respectively.
This Week
The Lions come into this game off the back of a four-goal thriller at The Den on Tuesday night, which saw Tom Bradshaw equalise late on, ending 2-2.
The Potters on the other hand, will be hoping to get back to winning ways after an error on Tuesday night at Hillsborough, lead to them coming home empty handed. Stoke look as though they are back to ‘square one’ this season and need some inspiration. This would be the perfect place to get it.
Injured Potters
Stoke will still be without Peter Etebo and Cameron Carter-Vickers after losing both through injury inside 25 minutes on Tuesday.
Bruno Martins-Indi is due to be back in the squad after illness had ruled him out.
Gary Rowett looks to have every member of the first team squad available ahead of his first full game in charge of the Lions.
Rowett and Stoke have history
Relieved of his duties by the opposition back in January, new Lions boss, Gary Rowett knows the reception he may get, however he reiterates that the task in hand is always the main focus,
“It will probably be a game where their fans want to give me a little bit of stick, but that’s fine. It’s water off a duck’s back. I’ll just be so pleased to be back out there”, he told Millwall’s official website.
“It’s not important who the first game was against, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful to anyone. I was very proud to be manager of Stoke and it didn’t work out for anyone the way they felt it would. But the emotion will be taken out of the game.”
Previous Meetings
Stoke haven’t won at Millwall since August 2005, however lack of meetings doesn’t help them. Stoke’s run in the Premier League stopped the two clubs from clashing for over 10 years.
It’s a win for Stoke and a draw in the recent head to head between these two. A 1-0 for Stoke in December 2018 and a goal-less draw back in April, keeps pundits guessing going into Saturday.
An away win on Saturday afternoon for Nathan Jones’ men could spark them back into life, but the task of ‘The Den’ still looms. They should expect a revitalised Millwall, with fresh ideas from Gary Rowett, who will be eager for all three points.
