Millwall v Fulham: Mitrovic to make his mark at The Den

Promotion-chasing Fulham face a tricky trip to Millwall on Wednesday night as the Cottagers look to put more pressure on the top-two and Mark O'Haire is expecting their star front man to shine...

Millwall v Fulham
Wednesday February 12, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports

Rowett admits mistakes in Millwall defeat

Millwall manager Gary Rowett admitted he picked the wrong team for Sunday's disappointing 2-0 home defeat to table-topping West Brom at The Den. The Lions boss decided to start an unusual line-up to accommodate blusterous weather conditions with Matt Smith as a lone striker and Jayson Molumby reinstated into midfield.

The Bermondsey boys could have lost by a larger margin with WBA firing in 29 attempts at goal and Rowett recognised his team weren't at the races, saying: "I picked a team I felt would suit the conditions rather than what I probably would've done for the game - maybe I made a mistake doing that. It really could have been three or four at half-time."

Millwall return to The Den this midweek with changes expected to Rowett's starting XI against Fulham. Tom Bradshaw and Shane Ferguson are pushing for recalls after losing their place in Sunday's side, whilst Mason Bennett and Ryan Leonard could both be involved despite their involvement in Monday's reserve team match.

Mitrovic the match-winner for Fulham

Fulham are only outside of the Championship's automatic promotion places on goal difference after grabbing a deserved 1-0 victory at Blackburn on Saturday. Aleksandar Mitrovic's 20th league goal of the campaign proved decisive at Ewood Park with the Cottagers restricting their hosts to only four efforts at goal and one on-target attempt.

The Whites had been frustrated by the hosts before Mitrovic's 65th minute opener, with Blackburn goalkeeper Christian Walton stopping an own goal from Bradley Johnson and palming away Tom Cairney's strike. Stefan Johansen should and could have made it 2-0 when he raced clear close to full-time, but Walton denied the midfielder with a smart save.

Fulham have now only lost one of their past nine Championship matches - winning six and keeping five clean sheets - and head coach Scott Parker was naturally delighted with his team's latest display, describing it as "a perfect away performance." The visitors could opt to recall Anthony Knockaert here with Terrence Kongolo also in contention to start.

In-form Fulham favourites at The Den

Fulham have picked up maximum points from each of their last three fixtures against Millwall, all three of which arrived alongside a clean sheet. The Cottagers head to The Den looking to secure back-to-back away victories over the Lions for the very first time in their league history having ran out comfortable 3-0 victors in their most recent visit in 2018.

Millwall 3.10 have made remarkable progress under Gary Rowett's watch, although the Lions lost for only the third time at The Den this season on Sunday (W8-D4-L3). The hosts will need to significantly improve their performance levels on Wednesday night, however, the home side have tabled a W4-D2-L1 return here when welcoming top-half teams.

Fulham 2.60 have picked up three points more than any of their second-tier rivals since mid-December (W6-D2-L1) with the Cottagers collecting eight points from four away days since losing to Brentford. Scott Parker's troops have nilled each of their last three hosts and picked up an impressive W6-D5-L2 when travelling to teams outside of the top-six.

Mitro can make his mark

Aleksandar Mitrovic was Fulham's match-winner on Saturday and the Cottagers striker can be supported at 7/2 quotes to break the deadlock in the Whites' midweek match at Millwall. Backing the Serbian hitman each-way sees us collect a third of the odds should the division's top goalscorer get on the scoresheet at anytime at The Den.

The Fulham forward is averaging a goal every 126 minutes in the Championship this season, attempts 3.70 shots at goal per-game and lands 1.30 on-target in each encounter. Ten of his 20-goal tally has arrived on the road and 'Mitro' is also finishing slightly above his Expected Goals (xG) output, highlighting his excellent conversion rate at this level.