Former Preston North End man backs Millwall for play-off place as Alex Neil prepares for Deepdale reunion

Preston North End will prepare for what could be a key battle in the Championship play-off race once Tuesday night’s visit to Swansea City is consigned to the history books.

Paul Heckingbottom’s men could move level on points with sixth place if they can claim all three points at Swansea and results elsewhere fall in their favour. That would then increase the importance of Saturday’s home game with fellow promotion contenders Millwall.

The Lions will arrive at Deepdale firmly in contention for a play-off spot at least and they will have one eye on how Middlesbrough and Coventry City fare over the coming weeks as they lie just six points adrift of the automatic promotion places.

Saturday’s game will see former North End boss Alex Neil return to Deepdale after he enjoyed a three-and-a-half year stint in charge of the Lilywhites between the summer of 2017 and March 2021 - and he will arrive looking to claim a win over his old club that can help his current employers boost what some consider to be a surprise push for the Premier League.

However, Millwall will head into Tuesday night’s home clash with Birmingham City knowing they need to bounce back from a shock home defeat against struggling Portsmouth if they are to travel to Deepdale on a high.

Pompey boss John Mousinho has been impressed with what he has witnessed from Millwall this season, though, and believes the Lions will secure a top-six spot, despite his own side claiming a 3-1 win at The Den on Saturday.

‘They are definitely up there’

The former North End player and current Pompey head coach said: “Millwall are a very good side, put in some very good performances consistently this year, and I think are definitely up there. Will certainly finish in the top six, in my opinion. To a man, we put in a great display.

“Alex probably wouldn’t like me saying that, but I think they’re an excellent side that is very well structured and very well organised. We’ve watched a number of games coming into this game. Beating Wrexham away from home, not many sides have done that. Wrexham have gone to beat Ipswich today.

“The one that was most impressive was the Watford game. We watched that in the build-up to our game against Watford and thought on the day they caused a very good side a lot of problems, and we’ve seen that time and time again this season. I could probably keep naming games. We watched the Charlton game here as well. So for us to be able to do that today was great.”

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