Sheffield Wednesday vs Millwall. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Hillsborough
Saturday 1 February 2020 18:49, UK
Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall fought out a goalless draw at Hillsborough which means that the visitors remain two points above their opponents.
Goalscoring opportunities were few and far between in a game which lacked real quality, with both goalkeepers having a largely trouble-free afternoon.
In his programme notes, Wednesday manager Garry Monk highlighted the need for consistency in performance levels after a disappointing run for his team. The midweek defeat at Wigan meant they had lost five out of their previous six league games.
New signing Alessio Da Cruz, who joined loan from Italian club Parma during the week, was named among the Wednesday substitutes.
Millwall's Shaun Williams fired wide during a quiet opening period.
Wednesday's first effort of note came when Jacob Murphy and Kadeem Harris combined to set up Moses Odubajo, whose low drive from the edge of the area flashed narrowly wide of Bartosz Bialkowski's right post.
Mahlon Romeo tried his luck from distance after some uncertain defending from the home side but his effort was well off target.
Adam Reach went close to putting Wednesday ahead a few minutes before the interval when he met a good cross from Harris at the near post, but his glancing header went beyond the far post.
The first substitution of the match came in the 56th minute, when Monk sent on Fernando Forestieri in place of Harris.
Just after the hour mark, Millwall boss Gary Rowett made a double substitution with Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Connor Mahoney taking over from Matt Smith and Shane Ferguson.
Dominic Iorfa threatened inside the area, firing wide of Bialkowski's left post following a corner.
Da Cruz made his debut for the hosts in the 67th minute, coming on as a replacement for Murphy.
Forestieri put a low shot on target but it was straight at Bialkowski, who gathered the ball comfortably.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, Rowett made his final change when Jayson Molumby took over from Tom Bradshaw.
In time added on, Forestieri tried a speculative effort from distance which was blocked.
Bodvarsson had a chance to nick a win for Millwall at the death when he got on the end of a long ball which had been flicked on, but with just Cameron Dawson to beat, his chip over the keeper cleared the bar.
Sheffield Wednesday's Garry Monk: "I definitely feel more pleased with that performance in terms of what I'd asked for. I knew in my own mind that the team naturally wouldn't be as confident as you would like, but I felt that in terms of attitude and commitment, I think it was there.
"It's not the win that we wanted but it's a clean sheet and a point. Of course, it's not perfect but it's a much more pleasing feeling than we've had in recent games. I didn't see a team giving up and it's a platform to build upon and I think that was needed."
Millwall's Gary Rowett: "I think it was a fair reflection. If you look at the game, I felt maybe we had a tiny bit more control at times. They maybe got into some more threatening positions than us without that control.
"I don't think either team had many chances. Reach, first half, gets a header which was just wide….and then a Jon Dadi chance towards the end, where you're thinking it could be the perfect away performance, scruffy, horrible, but you go and nick it at the end. I think that kind of summed up the lack of quality in the game at times. We've had a tough period so I'm quite pleased with a clean sheet."
