Alex Neil pleased with the manner of Millwall’s win against Leicester

Millwall head coach Alex Neil feels belief in what his team can achieve this season is starting to grow after they maintained their winning run with a 1-0 victory against Leicester.

The Lions have won their last four games in the Sky Bet Championship and Femi Azeez has scored in all of those after his well-taken goal just before half-time decided the contest at The Den.

The win could have been more comfortable had Mihailo Ivanovic not had a penalty saved, but Millwall remain third in the table and are now just two points behind second-placed Middlesbrough.

Neil said: “It felt like a big win because, in this narrative, I think – because this has happened at a lot of clubs, it’s not the first time it’s happened to me – there’s always ‘oh, we’ve won a few, we’re going to lose the next one’.

“Then when you win the next one, the feeling changes, doesn’t it?

“I think today, with the level of opposition we were playing against, it was certainly going to be a test of our credentials, in terms of where are we as a team.

“With the game itself, I think the manner of the win was probably the most pleasing because I’ve seen so many games like that where it’s a smash-and-grab and we nick a 1-0.

“That certainly wasn’t one of them, for me. However, when we need to put bodies on the line, make blocks, defend one-v-one, we always do that, we always dig in.”

Azeez was Millwall’s biggest threat from the start as he had an effort saved by the leg of Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk after 12 minutes.

The Lions hit the front in the 44th minute when Azeez superbly brought down Casper De Norre’s long ball inside the area before lifting his shot beyond Stolarczyk.

The hosts were then awarded a penalty after 56 minutes when Azeez was chopped down by Harry Winks, but Stolarczyk rescued his side by saving Ivanovic’s effort.

Leicester could not make the most of this reprieve, however, with Patson Daka heading their best chance at Max Crocombe in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

The Foxes have now lost their last two games and have just one win in their last eight, and their boss Marti Cifuentes felt they failed the produce the right response to a midweek defeat at Hull.

He said: “Not the result we wanted. We were looking for a reaction after Tuesday.

“In terms of performance, I think the first 15 minutes were quite good, we started the game quite well.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t take the lead but slowly in the middle (of the first half) through their set plays, especially the long throws, a couple of free-kicks we should not have conceded, that changed the momentum.

“During the next 15-20 minutes Millwall is pushing more, we were not able to use the space, they got in behind because they were pressing more aggressively.

“Then it was definitely very disappointing to concede this late goal in the first half.

“Through the minutes in the second half it became more emotional, so we tried to change things.

“Unfortunately, it was not good enough, so credit to Millwall, they are in a good dynamic, they defend well, they managed the game well. It was good for them and we couldn’t change that.”