Gary Rowett is happy for Millwall to continue flying under the radar in their quest for a Championship play-off spot after starting the season with a 1-0 win over Middlesbrough.
Romain Esse’s 79th-minute strike secured victory at the Riverside for the Lions, who missed out on a top-six place on the final day of last term after their capitulation in a home defeat to Blackburn.
The Lions have strengthened with the addition of five senior players this summer, yet when most pundits were making predictions of who would be challenging for promotion this campaign, Millwall rarely featured on their lists.
Rowett accepts that his club might not have as high a profile as some of their Championship rivals, but is hoping they once again punch above their perceived weight over the course of the next nine months.
Rowett said: “It doesn’t bother us – we enjoy that underdog tag. We’ve had four seasons where we’ve been very, very close to the play-offs, and the last two seasons have gone to the last game.
“If people write us off, maybe that’s people who haven’t looked at our squad. I think we’ve strengthened well and I think we’ve got a good squad.
“If you look at this division, it’s always easy to pick the big-name teams or the teams that have come down from the Premier League, and I understand that. Nine times out of 10, those teams bounce back up because they have the quality and the resources.
“I’d expect a club like Middlesbrough to be ahead of us in people’s thoughts of what’s going to happen at the end of the season, but that doesn’t stop us from being what we are.
“People label Millwall a certain way, but if you look at today, yes we defended diligently, yes we transitioned well, but we actually played some really good football as well and we’ve got some talented players.”
That talent was apparent in Millwall’s winning goal, with two young substitutes combining to unlock the Middlesbrough defence.
Aidomo Emakhu skipped clear down the left to slide over a low cross and Esse produced a composed curled finish to claim his first senior goal.
The result was a setback for Middlesbrough, who continue to pursue a new left-back and centre-forward ahead of the transfer deadline.
Michael Carrick accepts his side looked short in the final third, although he did not want to attribute the final result to a lack of transfer activity in the last couple of weeks.
Carrick said: “It’s disappointing. We came here to try to win the game, but in the first game of the season, sometimes you don’t really know what to expect.
“I think we had good players on that pitch, who were capable of playing in a good team and playing well. They were capable of scoring goals and creating goals.
“Just because we lost the game, it doesn’t always mean what people might label it with. The players are definitely good enough. It doesn’t stop us from wanting to improve, but it’s an easy throwaway thing to say that because we didn’t win and we didn’t score, we need (new) players to get to where we want to be.
“I would like to add players, but I’m really happy with the players we’ve got in the squad.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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