Millwall effectively secured Sky Bet Championship football next season after former Sunderland forward Duncan Watmore’s second-half strike at the Stadium of Light earned a 1-0 win.

In a game of few chances, Watmore, who had only been on the pitch four minutes, pounced to deliver the crucial goal that earned the Lions a third successive win.

Sunderland, however, saw their own winless run on home soil extended to six matches dating back to February 10.

The hosts threatened first and Millwall goalkeeper Matija Sarkic had to get down low to hold a drive from teenager Chris Rigg after he danced his way through the visiting defence.

Bradley Dack then created a couple of openings for Dan Ballard with some pinpoint deliveries but neither found the target.

Jobe Bellingham headed over another corner kick when he looked like he could at least test the Sarkic, but Millwall survived.

The Lions were struggling to create anything until former Sunderland midfielder George Honeyman’s set-piece was headed off target by Zian Flemming.

In a bid to improve things, Sunderland’s interim boss Mike Dodds pushed Bellingham up front for the second half as part of the changes brought about by replacing Dack with Trai Hume.

And Hume, operating at right wing-back, had the first effort after the restart when he drove a couple of feet over Sarkic’s bar from 22 yards.

In another attempt to lift the tempo by Dodds, Abdoullah Ba and Adil Aouchiche were brought on for the last half an hour.

Soon after that Sunderland thought they had the lead when Ryan Leonard somehow got in the way to block Callum Styles’ goalbound effort from Ba’s cross.

And in the 71st minute Millwall made the hosts pay when Ryan Longman’s low cross from the right was met by substitute Watmore, who had darted ahead of his markers to flick inside Anthony Patterson’s near post.

Bellingham almost deflected Brooke Norton-Cuffy’s cross into his own net in stoppage time but Millwall had already done enough to secure a vital three points.

Substitute Rhys Healey was the Huddersfield hero as his stoppage-time goal was enough to secure a dramatic and potentially priceless 1-0 win against fellow strugglers Millwall.

Healey pounced to head home from close range after Millwall goalkeeper Matija Sarkic could only parry Matty Pearson’s effort into his path.

The three points lift the Terriers out of the Championship drop zone.

Millwall, meanwhile, are now just two points clear of the relegation places, and will still be looking over their shoulders after a fourth match without a win.

The Terriers almost struck inside two minutes at the John Smith’s Stadium.

Some excellent work from Sorba Thomas paved the way through for Delano Burgzorg, but the Dutchman’s firm strike was excellently saved by Sarkic.

There was a swift response from Millwall, however.

Billy Mitchell pounced on a loose ball before seeing his shot saved confidently by Lee Nicholls.

The Lions threatened again when George Honeyman rose well to meet Ryan Longman’s cross, only to then direct a header off-target.

There was plenty of enterprise and endeavour in what proved to be an entertaining opening spell, and that despite a swirling wind.

Huddersfield were next to go close when Thomas’ delivery was flicked wide at the near post by Bojan Radulovic.

With Millwall now pressing for an opener, Michael Obafemi almost struck when his acrobatic effort was deflected behind for a corner by midfielder Alex Matos.

Jake Cooper then ought to have registered for the visitors, but he planted a golden headed chance over the crossbar from close range.

As half-time approached the pendulum was beginning to swing back Huddersfield’s way.

Thomas’ 25-yard blockbuster was saved by Sarkic, while Josh Koroma also fired inches over the top with his effort from the edge of the box.

There was a frantic start to the second period.

After a Millwall attack at one end, the Terriers broke quickly.

Radulovic found space and pulled the ball back into the path of Koroma, but he could not find the target from a great position.

David Kasumu then missed another decent opportunity as he fired wide following a tidy one-two with the impressive Koroma.

Back came Neil Harris’ Millwall in this end-to-end clash, with Ryan Leonard lashing over the top when he ought to have done better with options around him.

As the 70-minute mark passed, both sides then appeared to run out of steam, with tired bodies and heavy legs clearly evident.

Huddersfield’s Polish defender Michal Helik threw himself at a cross from Brodie Spencer, but he was thwarted by a last-ditch block.

After that, Huddersfield sub Healey went close to notching a winner, before then pouncing to finally do the business in predatory style right at the death.

Joe Edwards admitted Millwall are in the Championship relegation battle after a 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at The Den.

The Owls were two goals ahead at half-time after a delightful display from Dutch winger Anthony Musaba, who set up Canada international Ike Ugbo before finding the back of the net himself with a composed finish past Matija Sarkic.

The hosts were on the front foot for much of the second half, with Wednesday replacement Ashley Fletcher seeing red for two bookable offences.

However, Edwards’ side are now just one point above the relegation zone in 21st following their fourth consecutive defeat and eighth match without a win.

He said: “Southampton will be a tough game and not to declare an official relegation fight, but we are clearly down that part of the league.

“We are creeping towards that part of the season where it is important we get points on the board.

“Having been there and lived it before, there is no point really getting drawn into playing the fixtures predictions game.

“You never know, we will go to Southampton with absolute belief.

“And who knows, a game like today – which is a should-win in many people’s eyes – maybe the pressure got to us a bit and it ends up being a difficult day, but that could be the turning point.

“That is what football is about, we are not going there to roll over and wait for the next game, we have to go there and find some belief through what is a really really tough period.

“The only way is back in on Monday, stick together, stand up and go and face what is a really tough challenge on Saturday and beyond.”

The result was a huge boost to Wednesday’s survival hopes.

They remain in 23rd but are now just four points away from safety with 13 games to go this season, and manager Danny Rohl was delighted with a win on the road.

He said: “It was a difficult one, we know that coming here is not easy. When I looked at the game against Ipswich, the first 15 minutes I thought Millwall were very strong.

“I think that was the key today, we spoke about making the difference between home and away, I think at home we have had a lot of good performances and good results.

“It was a clear message today, make the difference in every duel and win the second ball.

“I think the two goals we scored were exactly what we wanted, to find the two number 10s and then speed up the game.

“It was great – I would describe today as adult football, if you know what I mean?

“The last few weeks we have spoken about performance away. Today was about taking results, we did well as a team and showed as a team what we have to do in our situation.”

New boss Steven Schumacher expressed his satisfaction despite his Stoke career beginning with a goalless draw at home to Millwall.

Following his move in midweek, the former Plymouth boss failed to secure a dream start to life in the Potteries.

Although they dominated throughout, the home side struggled to capitalise as they slipped to a ninth game without victory.

Ryan Mmaee was thwarted by former Potters’ goalkeeper Matija Sarkic and then Wes Harding in the biggest chances of the tie.

And the visiting Lions nearly punished the hosts’ wastefulness deep into stoppage time, but Stoke keeper Jack Bonham denied Aidomo Emakhu.

“There were lots of positive signs today and it’s a pleasing start,” said Schumacher.

“Jack [Bonham] got us out of trouble at the end and Luke [McNally] owes him a pint!

“That was Millwall’s only shot on goal and if that would have gone in, it would have broke all of our hearts.

“We didn’t lose the game which is important for us at this stage, so it’s a pleasing afternoon and there’s positive signs.

“The players played with more energy and the fans responded. We had that momentum and it was one-way traffic in that second half.

“We lost our rhythm towards the end but that’s to be expected with a brand-new message and management team.

“The players gave us everything today and I’m really appreciative of that. As long as we all stick together and stay on the same page, then our results will definitely turn around if we put in performances like that.

“It was a good day’s work, not perfect, but it’s one point, a step in the right direction and something to build on.”

Millwall saw their winless run extended to seven games and manager Joe Edwards admitted he still has a lot of work to do having taken charge last month.

“It was a solid performance for us,” said Edwards, whose last victory came in his opening game on November 11.

“We want to win every game, but you’ve got to respect where we’ve been as a team and we’ve been having a tough time.

“In recent weeks our performances haven’t been great and there’s been several different areas that we’ve had to address on the training pitch.

“We’ve lost too many games of late and it’s been about stopping leaking chances and goals as easily as we have.

“We’ve been going away with a lack of points because we haven’t been defending our box well enough. And when we’re in their half, we want to ask more questions and we need time to keep adding that bit.

“That final bit hasn’t been there for the past few weeks and it wasn’t there today, and that’s the final piece that we need to come together.

“We had a moment at the end where we rolled the dice but, all in all, I don’t think a draw is an unfair result for either team.”