Preston boss Ryan Lowe admitted Millwall deserve credit for transforming their style of play under Joe Edwards after his side’s 1-1 draw at The Den.
Zian Flemming put the Lions ahead in the fifth minute with a powerful header from the centre of the box, but Brad Potts rescued a point for North End after levelling in the 33rd minute.
Millwall controlled the second half and enjoyed 57 per cent possession, but they could not find the breakthrough and remain without a win since New Year’s Day.
Lowe said: “You have to give Millwall a lot of credit because they are trying to play a different way now.
“They have got some good footballers, and Joe is coaching the right way and the way that he wants.
“We had to withstand a lot of pressure from them, not just the team but from the fans as well, you have to keep them quiet.
“It was probably a fair result, I think both teams tried to win it.
“The first half was a little bit disappointing, the first 20 minutes or so, we gave ourselves a mountain to climb, but I am pleased with the reaction of the boys, to get a goal back.
“We probably didn’t want the first half to finish when it did because we were on the ascendency trying to get another one. We got into some good areas, we just could not finish it off, but it was not through lack of trying.
“We have been one of the best teams in the division for coming from a goal behind to win but you can’t keep doing that because it takes its toll on people.
“We are disappointed with the first goal but I am pleased with the reaction and resilience to keep going to the end and to try and win it.
“I don’t want people to think we are happy to take a point, we want to go and win games of football.”
The result leaves Preston in 12th in the Sky Bet Championship, while Millwall leapfrog Blackburn into 17th.
Edwards, who replaced Gary Rowett in November, is already looking ahead to next season after a mixed start to life in south London.
He said: “We’re just getting the team where we want it [ahead of next season].
“Obviously we are all competitors, we all want to win games and we look at the league table for sure, I look at the league table and would love us to keep pushing and finish as high as possible.
“As a group, a target of where we finish and what we achieve is not something we’re discussing much at the moment.
“The big thing is consistency, I think we felt we got to a point in recent weeks where there was a real noticeable change in the way we were playing and a lot of good performances.
“It is just about continuing to improve the quality of our performances and see where that takes us but the performance level is all we can aim for at the moment and we have got improvements to keep making.
“I felt the game played out a bit differently to Ryan, we started the game well and were on the front foot, we were the dominant team early on and got our reward.
“I still felt fairly comfortable up until their goal which came out of nowhere, it was an error from us and they punished us well, fair enough.
“The way we responded to the goal was poor, we completely lost our way from the goal until half-time.”
Toronto FC v CF Montreal: Courtois accepts blame amid ongoing winless streak
Laurent Courtois has accepted that it is on him to find a winning formula as CF Montreal look to snap their winless run against Toronto FC.
Montreal were beaten 3-1 by Columbus Crew in midweek and are now without a victory in six games in all competitions.
That includes a three-game losing streak in MLS, leaving them 13th in the Eastern Conference, and Courtois is eager to get back on track.
"It's up to me to find the winning formulas and discern the phases of the game," head coach Courtois said after the loss to Columbus.
"We have to grit our teeth and find solutions. The difficult times we are going through help me identify my group. I want to know the players better.
"From all the negative aspects we can observe, I can identify a few individual aspects to improve the game or the team itself."
Monreal's rivals Toronto have themselves lost back-to-back games ahead of Saturday's Canadian Classique at BMO Field.
Nashville SC scored twice late on to snatch a 2-0 win in the Reds' most recent match, but acting head coach Jason deVos admits there can be no excuses.
"The last ten minutes, two mistakes cost us and that's the cruelty of football sometimes - that it's a 90-minute match and you need to put in a 90-minute performance in," he said.
"The players are aware of that. They know where the growth areas are for us as a team."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Toronto - Federico Bernardeschi
Bernardeschi missed the loss to Nashville but will hope to start this weekend in a fixture he has fond memories of.
The Italian has scored in each of his two home games against Montreal, making him the third Toronto player to score in two successive home games against them after Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley.
Montreal - Joel Waterman
Montreal have conceded three or more goals five times across their 12 MLS games this season, which is tied with San Jose Earthquakes for the most in MLS.
They quite simply need to sharpen up at the back, with Joel Waterman needing to step up and hope others around him also do so.. The centre-back led the way for interceptions (three) and clearances (four) against Columbus, yet it was still not enough.
MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW
Montreal have won five successive matches against Toronto, following a run of neither side ever winning more than three on the spin in this fixture.
Toronto have won seven and drawn one of their eight matches in which they have held opponents under two goals since September, while they have lost all 13 in which they have shipped two or more.
Keeping the opposition quiet is therefore key, and this could present a chance to do just that against a Montreal side with fewer points (five) than any side in MLS since mid-March.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Toronto - 39.6%
Draw - 28.5%
Montreal - 31.9%
Southampton 3-1 West Brom (3-1 agg): Saints set up play-off final with Leeds United
Southampton saw off West Brom 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday to set up a Championship play-off final showdown with Leeds United.
Leeds thumped Norwich City 4-0 at Elland Road 24 hours earlier to book their place at Wembley, where Southampton now await on May 26.
The first leg between the Saints and West Brom finished goalless - just like the other semi-final - but the home side's quality told in the end.
Russell Martin's side dominated the first-half possession, with David Brooks going closest to scoring with a shot that hit the outside of the post.
Southampton made the breakthrough via a powerful Will Smallbone finish four minutes into the second half after Gray Diangana lost possession.
Darnell Furlong had a shot helped over by Alex McCarthy, while David Brooks - who assisted the opener - had a strong penalty appeal rejected.
Southampton remained in control, though, and Adam Armstrong scored a second with a shot through Furlong's legs and past Alex Palmer.
Armstrong's second goal arrived from the penalty spot in the 86th minute after Tom Fellows fouled Ryan Manning in the box, rendering Cedric Kipre's late header a mere consolation.
Al-Nassr 1-1 Al-Hilal: Mitrovic scores last-gasp penalty
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.
Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.
Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.
Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.
The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.
Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider
Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.
That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.
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