Harris return real goal-den moment

THERE was no need for Neil Harris to be reintroduced to the Millwall crowd – everyone at the Den knew the drill.

Lions legend Harris is on his fourth stint as a player or manager at the club and could not have dreamed of a better homecoming.

A wall of sound greeted kick-off and within 175 seconds the home fans were celebrating the only goal of the game.

The first airing of ‘Super Neil Harris’ had only just died down when Zian Flemming’s free-kick took a slight deflection off Yasser Asprilla to wrong-foot Ben Hamer and creep inside the right-hand post.

That made it two wins from two for Harris, and a first home win of 2024 for the Lions.

Harris said: “I’ve said I want to bring the Millwall-ness back to the club.

“Millwall-ness comes from, ‘What do the fans want to see?’ because the football club belongs to the fanbase.

“The good Millwall teams I played in and managed have had heart, character, passion, desire, we could challenge, we could run, and we had some ability.

“That is what the fans want to see and it is my job to teach the players what a Millwall team looks like.”

Defeat increased the pressure on Watford boss Valerien Ismael, whose side only threatened with shots from outside the box despite dominating possession.

Ismael said: “We have to start winning games, then things become more comfortable. If not then it will be very unpleasant.”

MILLWALL: Sarkic 7; Leonard 6, Tanganga 7, Cooper 8, Mcnamara 7 (Bryan (90) 5); Mitchell 6 (De Norre (90) 5), Saville 6; Honeyman 6, Flemming 6, Watmore 6 (Norton-cuffy (62) 6); Obafemi 6 (Longman (72) 6) WATFORD: Hamer 6; Ngakia 6 (Andrews (67) 5), Sierralta 7, Hoedt 7, Lewis 5; Livermore 6 (Martins (86) 5), Kayembe 5 (Dele-bashiru (46) 6); Dennis 5, Asprilla 6, Sema 5 (Kone (67) 6); Bayo 7 (Rajovic (80) 6) STAR MAN: Jake Cooper – Dominant display at the heart of the Lions defence. REF: Gavin Ward 7