Millwall boss Joe Edwards admitted relief was the overwhelming emotion after his side ended a three-month winless run at home in the Championship with a 2-0 victory over QPR at The Den.
Goals from Tom Bradshaw and Murray Wallace proved enough for all three points against their capital rivals on Boxing Day, halting the Lions’ sequence of seven matches without a win.
The result lifted Millwall six points clear of the drop zone and left Edwards pleased with the way his side ground out a victory against a relegation rival.
“I’ve got a lot of belief in this team but when you’re on a difficult run then you do really have to dig in and keep going,” he said.
“That was what the performance showed today because these games – when they are London derbies and two teams in a difficult position – it creates a bit of tension around them.
“You aren’t always going to get free-flowing, attractive games but we showed enough quality in spells to see signs of where we want to head.
“It’s definitely a relief – relief at the end of the run and relief when you know there is going to be that much added time going on (10 minutes), particularly after the way the last home game went (conceding stoppage-time penalty in draw against Huddersfield on December 16).
“Ultimately it was about our spirit today and we were difficult to play against. QPR played some nice football without ever really hurting us too much. I don’t think Matty Sarkic has made a save really.
“Those basics we want to be about, the fundamentals before we talk about playing any football, they need to be there.
“It was there today and gets us a clean sheet. Two consecutive clean sheets means four points. We need to remember that and keep building on it.”
The result condemned Marti Cifuentes’ QPR to a third loss on the bounce and the Spaniard acknowledged not much went right for his side.
“It’s a poor performance – perhaps the worst since I’ve been here,” he said.
“We didn’t start the game well. Millwall pressed really, really high – very aggressive – and we didn’t find a way to beat that pressure.
“We lacked the capacity to understand the space today was behind their back line. We had to activate the runs from behind.
“We tried to adjust this in the first half. From minute 30 we started to understand this a little bit better but then in a minute we should
never concede a goal, we concede a goal.
“We concede because we try to do it but then the team doesn’t travel in a compact way, so the space for the second ball is too big.
“We had the quality to break lines and travel together at the start of the second half and got some situations inside the box through Lyndon (Dykes) and Illy (Chair).
“Perhaps through the second half we start to drop a little bit and the last 15 minutes before injury time were not great. When we concede a second goal from a set-piece then obviously the game is over.
“When you win games then everything is much easier. When you do not get those wins, you need much more personality to go through.”
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Every season Arsenal must sign at least one Chelsea player Arsenal Striker now Raya.... Latin/South American Teams are UNBEATEN After the First Round of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup! Lamine Yamal is spending his S̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶ Holidays with 30-year-old Spanish influencer Fati Vazquez… Relegation Zone Club – Manchester United will face THREE o...
Marcus Rashford wants to miss Manchester United's summer tour of America in favour of finding himself a new club.Ruben Amorim's squad are due to travel America next month to ramp up their pre-season preparations. But Rashford is desperate to avoid going if he has not secured an exit from Old Trafford, and will tell club bosses he wants to remain in England to resolve his future.It's understood Amo...
Liverpool are reportedly set to table a 'significant' offer for Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi. The defender has just one year left on his contract at Selhurst Park and is therefore expected to be on the move this summer.Guehi has been heavily linked with a move away from the Eagles over the past few seasons, with Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham all showing an interest in acquiring the services o...
Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min could soon be exiting the north London club.Once part of a formidable partnership with Harry Kane, there is no question the South Korea international's powers appeared to have waned last season.Thankfully, after an almost 10-year association with Tottenham, Son finally marked his time at the club with a trophy last season, lifting the Europa League under dep...
Maresca reveals if Chelsea will sign a replacement for MudrykChelsea boss Enzo Maresca has revealed whether the Blues will sign a replacement for Mykhailo Mudryk after the winger's doping charges."We had already one entire season almost without Misha last season. We tried to find different solutions with some of the academy players like Tyrique [George]."But we're going to decide to go for a winge...
Liverpool join race to sign Crystal Palace star Marc GuehiLiverpool have reportedly joined the race to sign Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi as they seek to bolster their back line this summer.The 24-year-old is widely expected to leave the FA Cup holders this summer with his contract set to expire at the end of next season.According to the Daily Mail, Liverpool are now looking to sign a new cent...
Arsenal to pay ABOVE Martin Zubimendi release clauseArsenal will have to pay above the €60m release clause in Martin Zubimendi's Real Sociedad contract to get the deal done this summer.The 26-year-old has been in talks with Arsenal over a move from Spain to North London for the past six months and it’s now reaching Its climax.Personal terms were agreed some time ago but the clubs have ...
Lionel Messi celebrates his free kickLionel Messi’s 50th Inter Miami goal in only his 61st appearance for the club sealed a 2-1 comeback win over FC Porto in their FIFA Club World Cup Group A clash, securing a first-ever victory in the competition.Both sides contested goalless draws in their respective opening matches, but the deadlock was broken after only eight minutes in Atlanta through a...
Man City handed Premier League fine ahead of 115 charges verdictMan City have been slapped with a 3800k fine by the Premier League for repeated late kick-offs as they await the verdict for their alleged 115 charges.Pep Guardiola’s side have been fined approximately 3800,000 after admitting to nine breaches of Premier League Rule L.33, which governs punctuality for kick-offs and second-half r...
Man United set to miss out on goalkeeper target after Napoli talksMan United look set to miss out on one of their reported goalkeeping targets with Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in talks with Serie A champions Napoli.United had been heavily linked with the 28-year-old with current number one Andre Onana failing to convince since his move back in 2023.According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Milinkovic...
- 1 DONE DEAL: Marseille confirm CJ Egan-Riley signing from Burnley
- 2 Chloe Kelly enjoys sun-kissed holiday as Arsenal star rests before Euro 2025
- 3 Jack Grealish set to leave Man City this summer
- 4 Man Utd have Hugo Ekitike 'advantage'
- 5 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 6 Stunning Euro U21 reporter dubbed 'queen of Europe' in bold dress
- 7 Man Utd make decision on replacing Andre Onana with Emi Martinez this summer
- 8 DONE DEAL: Celta Vigo sign permanently Ilaix from RB Leipzig
- 9 Real Madrid eye a trio of targets
- 10 Maddison and Wag announce they're expecting twins AGAIN