Millwall vs Preston North End. Sky Bet Championship.
The DenAttendance10,183.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Millwall and Preston at The Den as Ben Whiteman missed a penalty in the second half to cost Ryan Lowe's North End all three points.
Monday 7 February 2022 15:14, UK
Ben Whiteman missed a second-half penalty as Preston were forced to settle for a point in an otherwise tame goalless draw at Millwall.
Neither of these mid-table Championship sides were able to offer excitement in a bitterly disappointing contest played in front of the Lions' lowest home league crowd of the season of just 10,183.
Midfielder Whiteman missed the golden chance when his 65th-minute spot-kick hit the post.
Millwall gave Oliver Burke only a second start for the club while they announced another loan signing from Sheffield United in Luke Freeman just before kick-off, although he did not feature.
It took 19 minutes for either side to have a shot and even then Mason Bennett's 25-yard free-kick went straight against the wall.
Millwall did go close with Maikel Kieftenbeld's well-struck volley 10 minutes later deflecting wide.
Bennett was next to threaten as his effort from just outside the area was well held by Daniel Iversen.
Preston's biggest threat came from the in-form Emil Riis who had netted four times in his last four games.
The Danish forward forced Bartosz Bialkowski into a stop with a well-struck 20-yard effort.
Ryan Lowe's side ended the first half the stronger of the two sides although finishing continued to disappoint with Ryan Ledson slicing wide from distance.
After the disappointing first 45 minutes, Millwall started the second half brightly and only a poor touch by Benik Afobe allowed Iversen to gather as he burst through.
The lively Kieftenbeld was the next to create a chance for himself with his shot from distance just going wide, while Bennett then saw another long-ranger fail to trouble Iversen.
Millwall sent on Jed Wallace for his first appearance in seven weeks after a quad injury.
But just moments afterwards Shaun Hutchinson tangled with Andrew Hughes in the area with a penalty awarded.
Whiteman's spot-kick came back off the post although Bialkowski had dived the right way anyway.
Millwall could not build on that moment though, although Wallace did give glimpses of what he may offer for the rest of the season in a lively first appearance of the year.
Preston in the end defended well with Sepp Van Den Berg and Liam Lindsay producing strong displays.
However home substitute Tyler Burey did his best to change the story with a curler from 25 yards that just went wide.
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "A lack of goals is a concern, it does not take a genius to work that out. But good players cost a lot of money. But we had quality players on the pitch and something that we have to do better. That defines where you end up in the table.
"We need that attacking quality third in the final third to win games. I think we will get better and have a squad with a bit more depth. Tonight lacked a lot of quality. When you put so much effort into the West Brom game sometimes games like this feel a bit flat."
Preston's Ryan Lowe: "We were outstanding, it was nearly the perfect away performance. There was only one team who might win it and that was us. We're disappointed not to be going home with three points. Ben will score more penalties than he will miss but we were dead worthy of the penalty. I'll never expect Ben to miss a penalty.
"It's a good point, not many teams will come here and get anything. Millwall were fantastic against West Brom and we know what they are about. Any point on the road is good. It is now one loss in eight or nine games and we want to be taking points."
