Into The Lions’ Den…

Updated:

By Pete H

To those of us in the remedial class, the Carabao Cup sounds like an exotic feast of football; a South American soccer samba if you will. To others, of course, it’s the new, souped-up name for the not-so-glamorous Football League Cup. Yes, that’s right folks. The competition that is third (or lower) on 92 clubs’ list of priorities is here once more. Or, if you’re Oxford United, the thing you still make celebratory Betamax tapes about. And, again, Boro’ must head to the home of a side in the Championship to kick things off. Oh, but the things we must do…

Now, we’d have been laughing if Ipswich was our destination tonight. Again. In the three League Cup matches to go in our favour, two were at the expense of the Tractor Boys. Still, Millwall eh? It’s a new ground, it’s a new game, it’s a new season. And we’re feelin’ – well – OK? After all, we can all agree that a 3-3 draw wasn’t exactly everyone’s prediction for our curtain raiser against Newport. The positive is that we scored three goals. That’s always a good start. The negative? Well, conceding three goals in a game rarely works out for the best.

 

Millwall v Stevenage: The Lowdown

Millwall v Stevenage: Into the Lions' Den...

The Opposition:
It’s not that long since we last met Millwall. Two weeks, in fact. That, however, had nothing riding on it. A pre-season friendly tends not to, unless it is part of a fabricated tournament in the Far East as close your Premier League side is going to get to silverware. No, this is the first time that us and the Lions have done this. And the East London side come into this after a harsh refereeing call denied them a share of the spoils at Nottingham Forest. A certain Steve Morison, by the by, the man to have his first strike of the season chalked off.

The Form:
Now, what conclusions can you draw? After just one game of a season that’ll contain at least 50, things are still falling into place. The gaffer is still on a recruitment drive; this Boro’ squad ain’t quite the finished article yet. Of course, some work at the back won’t go amiss after letting Newport trundle back to sunny south Wales with a point for their efforts. We can’t afford to be so charitable with our defence of set pieces against a side that’s two divisions above us. It is unlikely to bode well for us if we are. Meh. It’ll be alright on the night, as they say…

The Referee:
Super Hooper, lights are gonna find us; Simon Hooper: P8 W3 D2 L3 F10 A11 – last meeting: 0-0, Accrington Stanley (A) (07/05/2016)

The Head-to-Head:
You won’t find anything here; this is our first competitive meeting. Erm, so, take that. And party!

• BoroGuide’s Millwall club profile: No-one likes it, we don’t care…