They say Lions don’t lose sleep over the opinions of sheep – apparently they don’t drop points against them either.
Frank Lampard’s Derby were the victims as Millwall whisked away with the win in a tight game that had lots of life in it late on.
Millwall were unchanged for the third time on the bounce in the league, a typical Neil Harris move, while Lampard handed debuts for 18-year-old right-back Jayden Bogle and summer signing Florian Jozefzoon as he hoped to inject some pace into the right-hand side.
The Den had to wait all of seven minutes for their first goal. A Shaun Williams free-kick on the wing snuck through a sea of Derby defenders, Jake Cooper somehow getting a flick on it towards the bottom corner.
With momentum in their favour, Millwall looked to then make it pay as they continued to hit Derby on the break. The visitors were letting that infamously intimidating atmosphere get to them, giving the Lions more space than they’d expected.
Less than 20 minutes gone, the Lions then doubled their lead, Williams this time the scorer. Stood around 30 yards out from goal, the midfielder found the ball at his feet with both time and space. His thundering effort deflected of an outstretched Fikayo Tomori into the top-right corner.
Joking chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” directed at Lampard shortly followed. The unforgiving audience weren’t going to forget his West Ham affiliation just because he’d gone into management.
Derby’s chances were mostly stopped in their tracks throughout the first half by an unwavering Millwall back four, failing to get a clear sight of goal or a cross into space. And the frustrations began to build. There's a reason why they've only lost once at home since November last year.
As the game ticked on, the only time Rams striker Martyn Waghorn managed to make it through the defence unchallenged he was ruled offside - his replacement David Nugent finally added a bit of grit to their attack.
Two up headed into the last twenty minutes, this was familiar territory for Millwall, as they faired indentically in their first game here against Middlesboro a fortnight ago. If it weren’t for two very late goals then, they’d have taken three points off a team tipped for promotion. This was going to be a test to see if they could close the game out second time around.
But it all suddenly came to life in the final third for the visitors. With 20 minutes to go, Craig Bryson played substitute Nugent into space in the box, who fired an exocet into the top-right corner, flying past a helpless Archer. Derby were finally finding their confidence, and their supporters found their voices too.
An almighty sigh, loud enough to drown out any away fans, rang around The Den moments later as Shaun Hutchinson headed down to George Saville, who somehow managed to scoop a vital chance round the post.
The nerves were getting to the Lions, who began to wilt late on. But they were able to hold out to the end for the win. Although it's early days, Lampard and Derby still have lot to learn.
