No moaning about fixture congestion

Millwall face two games in the space of 72 hours next week – but manager Neil Harris is not moaning about an increase of workload.

The Lions head to Rochdale for an FA Cup fifth round replay on Tuesday before hosting Cardiff City in a televised clash on Friday night, writes Richard Cawley.

“Going up there is not the end of the world but coming back late on Tuesday is not ideal because we play on the Friday,” said Harris. “But we will crack on and we don’t moan. No excuses, we just get on with it.

“It is just another game of football. We coped last year with the amount that we played and still achieved the goal we wanted to get to. It will be the same this year. We have got to get players’ matches-to-minutes ratios right. We’ll go to win the game at Rochdale, that’s for sure.

“We won’t be fazed by the quality of their pitch. Most of my players have played in the lower leagues, so the surface is never going to be a problem. Rolling our sleeves up and having a battle will suit us – we’ll look forward to that.”

Jason Shackell is unavailable for tonight’s Championship home game against Derby County – as he is not eligible to face his parent club.

Loan defender Shackell made his debut in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Rochdale despite suffering with food poisoning on the morning of the game.

He played just under an hour at The Den.

“Shacks would’ve played 90 minutes if he’d been fully fit but at 1.30pm on Saturday he wasn’t playing at all because he had been up all night unwell,” said Harris.

“It was only sheer willingness to get minutes that saw him get out there. Even a half-hour would’ve been a bonus for him. We knew that if he got to half-time then the likelihood would be that was it.

“So for him to play 60 minutes was really pleasing and stands him in good stead.”

Second-placed Derby were 3-0 winners in the reverse fixture at Pride Park.

“We cann’t switch off for a minute,” said Harris. “You saw at their place there was nothing in it, if not we were the better team, but they had experience and end quality in their side.

“David Nugent produced two unbelievable finishes and Matej Vydra scored from 20 yards. We’re going to have to be at our best – individually and collectively.”