Millwall win piles pressure on Boro
Millwall piled the pressure on Middlesbrough, which does not play until Tuesday (AEDT), with a 2-0 win over Preston North End moving it within one point of second place in the EFL Championship.
Ryan Leonard put Millwall in front just before the half-hour mark and the Lions made sure of all three points through substitute Luke Cundle in the 92nd minute.
Boro could reinstate its lead over Millwall to four points if it beats Birmingham City on Tuesday (AEDT), but it will not be an easy game.
Millwall's upcoming fixtures could prove critical if it is to pinch the second automatic promotion place from Boro and play in the top flight for the first time since 1990.
Alex Neil's side will travel to promotion rival Hull City next weekend before a visit to Ipswich Town and what is likely to be a crunch game at Middlesbrough in consecutive games at the end of March and start of April.
With that ahead, Neil knows how important the win at Preston was.
"I thought we stood up to it brilliantly," he said.
"I thought we deserved the first goal, we should have scored before that, and we had two or three chances after that in the first half as well.
"In the second half it was always going to be a case of who got the next goal. To be fair to Preston, they threw everything at us but I thought we defended brilliantly."
