Millwall's league form may have stuttered recently, but the Lions will be hoping for an upturn in fortunes with the return of Neil Harris.
The 24-year-old striker made his second comeback of the season, coming on as a 77th minute substitute for Steve Claridge at Hillsborough on Saturday. At that stage, the Lions were trailing 1-0 to Efan Ekoku's 49th minute header.
It could have be worse, had Tony Warner not pulled off a penalty save to deny Gerald Sibon from the spot after a Stuart Nethercott foul.
However, it was fellow striker Richard Sadlier who stole the headlines, overpowering his marker Leigh Bromby before striking a late equaliser.
Millwall boss Mark McGhee was delighted with the Irishman's goal: "I thought Richard took his goal superbly. Six months ago, and certainly when I came to the club, he would not have scored a goal like that.
"He has developed physically and mentally and what we are seeing now is a very, very good player emerging."
Now that Harris has returned to the fold, McGhee faces a welcome selection dilemma upfront.
On the subject of the substitution, McGhee said: "I wanted to get Harris on, but equally Claridge has been superb and he feels that in the latter stages of games he really comes into his own.
"It was a tough one to decide, but perhaps it is also a little bit of a reminder to Claridge and Sadlier that Harris is there waiting for his chance."
Sadlier was again on target in the midweek game at the Den against Manchester City.
City struck first in the 23rd minute, when Eyal Berkovic broke from midfield to feed Shaun Wright-Phillips, whose low cross was turned in by Shaun Goater.
Just before the interval, Steven Reid's free kick was almost converted by Tim Cahill, but the ball bounced out to Sadlier, who confidently hit his shot past a crowd of defenders.
Kevin Keegan's side turned on the style in the second half, and when former Lion Darren Huckerby volleyed home Ali Bernabia's low cross it could have signalled the beginning of a rout.
However, Millwall demonstrated their character by bouncing back, albeit via a fortuitous penalty. Danny Tiatto was harshly adjudged to have handled and Claridge kept his cool from the spot to level.
The Lions were cruelly denied a share of the spoils when City hit back with a classic counter attack.
Reid's free-kick was cleared upfield and Wright-Phillips chose an inopportune moment, from Millwall's point of view, to score his first ever senior goal.
Now Millwall face Portsmouth in front of the ITV cameras on Thursday night (kick off 7.45pm), hoping to return to winning ways at home.
Since the war, the Lions have drawn 12 of the 21 encounters at the Den, and managed to win just six.
Alex Rae and Teddy Sheringham provided the goals in the Lions' last victory over Pompey back in October 1990, a season which saw the club make the play-offs.
The Lions may have been hoping for a lucrative FA Cup draw but now have to settle for a home tie with Scunthorpe United.
Millwall will be hoping to progress past them for the first time in their history, to erase the distant memories of two giant-killings back in 1974 and 1970 respectively.
December 11, 2001 13:17
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