An in-form Millwall team will be looking to maintain their spot in the top six this weekend as they travel to the Championship's bottom side Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon.
Gary Rowett's men have won their last four games and look more likely than ever to earn a playoff berth, whereas Huddersfield are fighting at the other end of the table, having managed only three wins in their opening 15 this season under former head coach Danny Schofield and current boss Mark Fotheringham.
Match preview
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Huddersfield Town came agonisingly close to a return to the Premier League after a three-year absence last season, but ultimately lost out to Steve Cooper's Nottingham Forest side in the playoff final at Wembley Stadium.
Since then, the Yorkshire-based club have seen the exit of two managers and several key players, events that have contributed to their 24th-placed standing after a third of this Championship campaign, a worrying five points from safety.
Fotheringham left his post as Hertha Berlin assistant to take the reins at the John Smith's Stadium at the start of October, but has not had the immediate impact the Huddersfield hierarchy would have desired, having only collected five points in his first six matches.
The Terriers are winless in their last three, and with four of their final five fixtures before the World Cup against teams occupying top-six places, the assignment for Fotheringham's side will be to prevent the gap between them and safety from becoming even bigger for when club football resumes in December.
All of Huddersfield's victories this year have come in front of their home fans and coupling that with Millwall's unconvincing away record, there may be some small bits of optimism amongst the Town faithful when they go through the turnstiles on Saturday.
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The Den erupted last weekend when Millwall's Tyler Burey netted a last-minute winner against managerless West Bromwich Albion, extending the home side's winning run to four games and their unbeaten run to five.
Head coach Rowett has continued to play down his team's playoff potential despite results of late, perhaps grounded by the last three campaigns where the Lions have flirted with the top six but ultimately failed to finish inside the playoffs when the final ball had been kicked in May.
No one has taken more points from their home matches than Millwall this season, but only one win in seven Championship away outings suggests that a maximum at Huddersfield this weekend is not a foregone conclusion despite the distance between the sides in the league standings.
Jed Wallace's departure to West Brom was a massive blow to the Londoners in the summer, but the five goals provided by new arrival Zian Flemming have gone some way in replacing such a talismanic figure from seasons gone by, with the Dutchman adapting well since his switch from Fortuna Sittard in June.
Team News
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Huddersfield will be without a host of key first-team players when Millwall visit on Saturday, including Tino Anjorin who is yet to return from Glandular fever and experienced midfielder Jonathan Hogg who is out with a calf strain.
Defensive duo Matty Pearson (foot) and Will Boyle (foot) also remain sidelined and are unlikely to be seen before the World Cup.
Millwall can boast a less congested medical room with only defender Ryan Leonard unavailable due to a hamstring injury sustained in an away defeat at Norwich City.
Burey will be pushing for a start after scoring the winning goal against West Brom during an impressive 30-minute cameo last time out, with German winger Andreas Voglsammer likely to drop out of the XI as a result.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Turton, Lees, Helik, Nakayama; Kasumu, Camara, Thomas, Holmes, Rudoni; Rhodes
Millwall possible starting lineup:
Long; McNamara, Hutchinson, Cooper, Malone; Shackleton, Mitchell, Styles, Flemming, Burey; Bradshaw
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-2 Millwall
Millwall come into this clash as favourites but their away record will give Huddersfield some confidence in getting a positive out of the game at the John Smith's Stadium.
Rowett's men seem to have plenty of options off the bench that can change the course of the game unlike Huddersfield who are short of first-team options, so we are expecting them to have the edge over the Terriers and increase the pressure on Fotheringham.
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Carter White
