Opposition View: Millwall

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Opposition View: Millwall

LCFC.com caught up with Southwark News’ John Kelly ahead of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Millwall, plus we take a look at the views of manager Neil Harris and wideman Aiden O’Brien.

2017-02-17T14:27:37.000Z

by Leicester City

Published

17 Feb, 2017

Opposition View: Millwall

LCFC.com caught up with Southwark News’ John Kelly ahead of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Millwall, plus we take a look at the views of manager Neil Harris and wideman Aiden O’Brien.

Leicester City

2017-02-17T14:27:37.000Z

Opposition View: Millwall

LCFC.com caught up with Southwark News’ John Kelly ahead of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Millwall, plus we take a look at the views of manager Neil Harris and wideman Aiden O’Brien.

Leicester City

2017-02-17T14:27:37.000Z

Opposition View: Millwall

LCFC.com caught up with Southwark News’ John Kelly ahead of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Millwall, plus we take a look at the views of manager Neil Harris and wideman Aiden O’Brien.

Leicester City

2017-02-17T14:27:37.000Z

Opposition View: Millwall

LCFC.com caught up with Southwark News’ John Kelly ahead of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Millwall, plus we take a look at the views of manager Neil Harris and wideman Aiden O’Brien.

Leicester City

2017-02-17T14:27:37.000Z

- Hear from local reporter John Kelly, plus Millwall manager Neil Harris and winger Aiden O’Brien ahead of Saturday’s clash

- Kelly likened the Lions’ style of play to that of Leicester City’s last term

- Millwall boss Harris says his side have a great respect for Claudio Ranieri’s men

LCFC.com caught up with Southwark News’ John Kelly ahead of Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Millwall, plus we take a look at the views of manager Neil Harris and wideman Aiden O’Brien.

Chief Sports Reporter John has covered the Lions since May 2015 and provided an insight into how they might shape up against Leicester City.

Furthermore, he highlighted how Millwall have bounced back from last term’s play-off final defeat to mount a charge for promotion to the Championship.

“Millwall’s season has been up and down – up at the moment,” John told LCFC.com. “They started off with a little bit of a hangover from last season.

“They lost in the League 1 Play-Off Final and they had a few key injuries to players – Steve Morison, Lee Gregory and a defence that was changing.

“Since before Christmas they’ve got all of their most important players back and they haven’t lost in the last 12 games.

“This (the FA Cup) is just a kind of happy distraction; they’re not putting themselves under any pressure which is the most important thing for them.”

John went on to liken Millwall’s style of play to the one that the Foxes thrived off during their 2015/16 title-winning campaign.

He added: “They’ll have a real go at Leicester and they’ll go into it massively confident. They’ve already knocked out Bournemouth and Watford and I think Bournemouth particularly took Millwall a little bit lightly.

“Millwall have that ability to absorb pressure, a little bit like Leicester last season, where they sit back in 4-4-2 and they have players to break quite quickly. They’re comfortable absorbing pressure and then spring a counter-attack – a lot of goals come that way.

“They couldn’t really be more confident, there’s no real pressure on them. The manager isn’t putting any pressure on them but at the same time they’ll give Leicester a really good go.”

The man at the helm of Millwall, Harris, says he has a great respect for the Foxes and knows his side will have to be at the top of their game to beat them.

“We’ve had a tough run of games,” the Lions boss said in his pre-match press conference. “We’ve had two physical games at the Den – because we make them physical.

“We’re looking forward to it. I wouldn’t say we fancy our chances. We don’t fear anybody but we’re very respectful of the fact that Leicester have a very good squad of players.

“The FA Cup is a unique competition. Your league form has a relevance to a certain degree, but it’s an opportunity to play with freedom and that’ll be the case for both sides.

“I don’t think Leicester will relish coming to the Den, but the quality in the squad speaks for itself, so for us to be competitive and victorious, we’d have to play really well and Leicester not.”

A man who shares in Harris’ optimism is Millwall winger O’Brien, who has netted 12 times in all competitions for his side.

Speaking to millwallfc.co.uk ahead of the game, he said: "We will go out there and enjoy ourselves because it's a free-hit of sorts.

"The league is our main priority and it's nice to have a match against a big Premier League team without the pressure.

"They're not doing too well this season, but at the end of the day they are still the Premier League champions.

"If we can beat them and continue our cup run it will be a huge result for us and the fans."

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