Neil Harris hailed the character of his side after Millwall took a commanding lead in their play-off semi-final against Bradford.

The Lions went behind early but rallied to earn a 3-1 lead at half-time through goals from Lee Gregory, Steve Morison and Joe Martin.

Despite strong pressure from Bradford in the second half, the Millwall defence held firm to take a two-goal advantage in to the second leg.

Harris said: “I’m delighted with the result, it’s a big performance. It was always going to be tough, we knew what was coming in the second half.

“They were going to go direct and throw balls into the box.

“But the character was outstanding – to go behind here in such an important game and to bounce back and score three goals was such a big achievement for my players.

“I’ve got good characters in the dressing room and they proved that again.”

The home side, having lost just two games since March 2, started brightly and took the lead on 13 minutes.

A free-kick was headed back across goal by Jamie Proctor and Joe Martin, attempting to clear, flicked the ball onto his arm for a Bradford penalty.

Tony McMahon sent Jordan Archer the wrong way but the lead did not last long as Gregory rifled home an equaliser just two minutes later.

Morison met a Shane Ferguson corner with a powerful header on 34 minutes to give the Lions the lead.

Bradford, who had conceded just four goals in their last 13 games, suffered another setback on the stroke of half-time as Joe Martin slotted home a fine free-kick past Ben Williams.

Bantams forward Filipe Morais missed a glorious chance shortly after the break when firing wide, before Archer denied a Nathan Clarke header.

Lee Evans curled a free-kick wide of the post with ten minutes remaining and then shot over in injury-time from a promising position.

However, Bradford were unable to reduce the deficit and travel to the Den on Friday trailing by two goals.

Harris, 38, insisted there was still a long way to go as he hopes to secure immediate promotion back into the Championship.

He added: “I’ve said to them, there’s a long way to go and we need to show the same mentality which we’ve just showed for 90 minutes.

“We have got a long way to go in the tie and we know that.”

Harris reserved special praise for skipper Morison, who was named man of the match after a typically determined performance for the Lions.

“I thought he was fantastic,” Harris added.

“Not just the goal but his whole performance and effort. He typifies exactly what Millwall is about and deserved his goal.”