Lions will target promotion push, says boss Neil

BBC News

6 hours ago

Alex Neil has set his sights on a sustained Millwall promotion challenge next season after agreeing a new deal at The Den.The Lions surged up the Championship table following Neil's arrival in December and finished in eighth place, missing out on the play-offs by just two points.But the 44-year-old, who guided Norwich into the Premier League a decade ago and oversaw Sunderland's League One play-off success in 2022, believes Millwall can build on their momentum next season."We're not here just to make up the numbers and be a bit unfortunate," he told BBC London 94.9. "Our plan and hope is to take that next step and be a team that's going to compete to try and get out of this division."We're not going to do it by outspending our opponents, we're going to do it by gradually building and if you do it that way, it gives you a little bit more longevity."It's easy to find a bit of money to get there but, if the foundations are built on sand, it doesn't last particularly long."Irrespective of how next year goes, I think it's a really exciting time to be a Millwall fan – we've got so many good young players, so many assets on the horizon coming through."One of the Lions' best homegrown assets, midfielder Romain Esse, departed for Crystal Palace within weeks of Neil's arrival – but the squad regrouped to secure a sixth top-half finish in eight years.The manager added: "The camaraderie, togetherness and drive and determination of the players was vital – and the supporters as well, in some of those away games where we really needed points."Certainly by the end of the season we started to create that at home as well, winning five on the bounce. You need to put the team first, even if at times it doesn't suit your own narrative."I felt that's what the players did for me, for each other, for the fans and that's a great starting platform."