The Lions earned a point against the visiting Hornets, frustrating the away side to see the game end in a stalemate.

The wasn’t much to get the home fans off their sofas, but the home side will be satisfied with a solid defensive display.

Rowett reverted to the 5-3-2 that brought the Lions a win in last midweek, new signing Maikel Kieftenbeld going straight in the side, having joined from Birmingham City yesterday.

It was a tight first half, both sides well organised and struggling to play through each other. The visitors came closest to opening the score, more through luck than judgement.

Tom Cleverly’s chipped free kick was deflected on the post before being cleared off the line on 34 minutes by Kieftenbeld, the Dutchman already making his mark.

Ismaila Sarr also went close for the Hornets on 44 minutes but couldn’t quite slot his close range effort through the legs of Bartosz Bialkowski.

Millwall ended the half the stronger, however. Jake Cooper twice went close to giving the Lions the lead in stoppage time. First he met a Ryan Woods diagonal to power a header onto the post on 46 minutes, then he saw a headed finish from a Jed Wallace free kick ruled out two minutes later.

The second half matched the first, tight and toughly fought. The muddy pitch and cold, dark night gave this game an edge, one that had the makings of a classic had fans been in the stands.

 

Watford had a few half chances, Andre Gray hitting the side netting early on in the second period, before Nathaniel Chalobah’s long range effort was denied by Bialkowski in the 69th minute. Troy Deeney’s acrobatic follow up left a lot to be desired.

 

Millwall did enough to hold out for a point against a strong Watford side, showing once again that they know how to shut down big teams and hold onto a draw. They need to start turning these hard fought points into wins against weaker sides if they want to move up the table.

 

Teams:

Millwall: Bialkowski; McNamara, Leonard, Hutchinson, Cooper, Malone; Woods, Kieftenbeld; Thomspon (Bodvarsson, 72); Wallace (Williams, 84), Zohore (Bennett, 72).

Subs: Fielding, Bradshaw, Parrott, Pearce, Romeo, Smith.

Watford: Bachmann, Kiko, Troost-Ekong, Sierralta, Masina; Cleverly (Zinckernagel, 64), Chabolah, Hughes, Sarr; Deeney, Gray (Pedro, 64).

Subs: Parkes, Cathcart, Garner, Hungbo, Navarro, Ngakia, Wilmot.