After spending more than a year away from football, Alex Neil has returned to the Championship to take charge of Millwall.

Millwall have appointed former Preston North End, Sunderland and Stoke City boss Alex Neil as head coach on a "long-term" contract after Neil Harris' departure.

Neil was in the stands at the Coventry Building Society Arena for the Lions' goalless draw against Frank Lampard's Coventry City on Sunday.

The 43-year-old was last in charge of Stoke, spending 16 months with the Potters before being sacked in December 2023 after a poor run of results in the Championship.

Neil has plenty of second tier experience, overseeing 389 Championship fixtures with four different clubs, winning 151 of those games (D93 L145).

He also won promotion to the Premier League with Norwich City in 2015, but takes over a Millwall side who are 13th in the table after one win in their last nine league games.

"The opportunity was a great one for me," Neil said. "I think it's very similar to when I went in at Preston, going into a good environment. It's not as if there are huge problems.

"The team wasn't struggling, and I had to go in and develop a style of play, maybe bring some of the younger players through, so I see this as a similar project to what I did there."

Neil's first match in charge of Millwall will be their home game against Oxford United on New Year's Day.