Manager Insights
Sergej Jakirovic, the Hull City manager, shared his thoughts ahead of the playoff semi-final first leg:
I think we are very similar teams, it’s 50/50 and we’ll see. Today we have to be very tactically wise. Of course we will try to score and take an advantage into the second leg … Nothing will be decided tonight, but we will try to win the game.
In my opinion, the regular season is over. It doesn’t matter who’s in bigger form. It’s a tournament. We have to be better in two games. No away goals. And we will try to beat Millwall. They have to believe in themselves. We showed already, we played almost all season very good. All season, it’s believe in yourself, try to do what we are practising in training sessions, and I think in the end we deserve to be there because mostly we were there.
It’s been an amazing experience for me. I spoke a lot to Slaven Bilic, he told me everything, but when you feel for yourself it’s amazing. Everyone’s prediction was that we will be in a relegation battle but this is football, and you must believe in yourself.
Alex Neil, Millwall's manager, also spoke with Sky Sports in a detailed interview, highlighting the team's mindset:
We’re really relaxed. We’re ready. The club’s been trying to get in the playoffs for 24, 25 years and we’ve managed that, so it’s been a brilliant season so far. The first leg, naturally once it’s done, might shape what the second leg looks like, but our aim naturally is to win the first game. For us, we’ve played Hull twice this year, what it did show is both teams are more than capable of beating each other. It’s going to be an end to end game. I’ll be interested to see how it goes.
The owners made it clear to me how he wanted things to evolve. The recruitment’s been brilliant and the lads are absolutely first class. They’re very humble, they’re very hard working and I think if you’ve got a lot of those ingredients, that’s the recipe for success. As far as we’re concerned, we’ve got an unbelievable opportunity and we’ve got to just go for it.
The Teams
Team sheets for the first leg have been submitted as follows:
Hull City: Pandur, Coyle, Egan, Hughes, Giles, Slater, Crooks, Belloumi, Millar, Gelhardt, McBurnie.
Substitutes: Phillips, Hirakawa, Dowell, Lundstram, Joseph, Koumas, Ajayi, Gyabi, McNair.
Millwall: Patterson, Leonard, Crama, Cooper, Sturge, Mazou-Sacko, De Norre, Azeez, Neghli, Ballo, Coburn.
Substitutes: Crocombe, McNamara, Mitchell, Ivanovic, Doughty, Langstaff, Watson, Cundle, Bannan.
Referee: Gavin Ward.
Season Overview and Playoff Context
Following 46 games, the regular Championship season has concluded, setting the stage for the playoffs.
Hull City and Millwall finished the regular season separated by exactly 10 points. Millwall secured a higher position, narrowly missing automatic promotion by finishing third, just a couple of points shy of second place. Hull City finished seventh, also just two points away from automatic promotion.
Millwall scored 64 goals during the season, the fewest among the top eight teams, and fewer than Sheffield United, who finished 13th.
Playoff performance often hinges on recent form. Millwall demonstrated strong momentum with three wins and no losses in their last five matches, placing them fourth in the form table. Conversely, Hull City won only one and lost two of their last five, ranking 17th in form.
Over the final 10 games, Millwall accumulated 18 points, a solid tally for playoff qualification, while Hull City earned 13 points, a mid-table level. In the second half of the season, only Southampton earned more points than Millwall's 47, while Hull City managed 35.
The two teams met twice during the season, with both matches won 3-1 by the away side. Millwall's victory at Hull's MKM Stadium in March was the more recent encounter by three months. Gavin Ward, who refereed Hull's win at Millwall's home ground, The Den, will officiate this playoff match as well.
Millwall are aiming to return to the top tier of English football for the first time since the 1989-90 season, when they were relegated with a squad including notable players such as Teddy Sheringham, Mick McCarthy, Phil Babb, and Tony Cascarino.
Reflecting on the season, Millwall manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio London,
We’re in the play-offs with an unbelievable season but there’s still a lot to play for. For this group, what we’ve done, I think we deserve to have something for our efforts come the end of it, not just a pat on the back and a well done. We’re hoping there is still a fairytale ending for us.
Jakirovic brings experience from managing Dinamo Zagreb in two-legged knockout ties and emphasized the importance of tactical intelligence in such matches:
You have to be very clever, or wise, in these games because in the first game, we will not decide anything. You have to be better in two games. Who will score more goals or who will concede less, we will see. It’s huge, yes. Who will handle the pressure better? I can say that I can handle pressure better.
Both teams have had remarkable seasons. Hull City's top scorer, Oli McBurnie, remarked:
If you said Millwall would have finished third and we’d have finished sixth at the start of the season, I’m sure people would have laughed at you. But who’ll be laughing after Monday’s second leg?
