The Will Scott column: Millwall keep finding ways to win as ‘surreal’ play-off march continues

IT almost feels surreal how well this season is going.

Millwall have lost just two games since Christmas Day - a pair of aberrations amid a sea of green - and are now looking up at the automatic places rather than down at seventh.

No sustained wobble, just consistency and excellence in the most important part of the season.

Portsmouth threatened to be the sort of loss that jolted Lions fans back to reality - the season-defining setback that fundamentally lowered their side's trajectory.

Instead, they were back at it four days later, tearing apart a high-spending top-six challenger in Birmingham City, who have yet to recover.

Back-to-back away wins have thrust them right to the very top.

To opposition fans, they must feel like the Terminator - slowly, inexorably marching towards the top six regardless of what happens on the pitch.

They must be thinking, how on earth did Millwall leave the MKM Stadium with all three points?

If you play that game ten times over, I am convinced that was the one scenario where the Lions come out on top.

Had the referee not (probably wrongfully) disallowed Kyle Joseph's goal to put Hull up 2-1, or had the Tigers converted one of their many gilt-edged chances in the first half, it would be a very different narrative heading into Derby County on Tuesday.

Instead, the bar and some body-on-the-line last-ditch defending ensured it stayed level for the first hour.

It was another moment of quality from Femi Azeez for the Lions' second, but really, what on earth was Ivor Pandur doing? You could see how confused Mihailo Ivanovic looked when the ball came to him. He will not get many goals easier than that.

The next goal was a far nicer one from an aesthetic standpoint. Josh Coburn, who has been immense after missing the Pompey loss with an overnight illness, was live to a poor pass and uncorked an unbelievable finish to double their lead.

Coburn is such a powerful presence and seems to find it far easier to convert chances with a higher degree of difficulty - think of that lovely chip at Burnley or the thumping finish at Wrexham.

That is four goals now for him since returning to first-team football in January. It is an overused cliche but he has felt like a new signing.

Ivanovic has also bagged four goals since the new year.

The pair were so important to Millwall's surge in the run-in last season, and it is a promising sign that they are both hitting form around the same time.

Of course, Millwall do not need to rely on them for goals anymore - they are more dangerous from set-pieces than they have ever been and and they have one of the most lethal wingers in the division in Azeez

"We've been scoring goals regularly now," Neil told the media in his post-match press conference. "We spoke about that when I first came in here, that our issue's always been getting enough goals. I think we've averaged, what, two goals, maybe even more than that per game in the last ten games. We've got dangerous players, and we can score a goal."

What is particularly interesting is that those goals have not always come in high-octane, exciting matches.

While the 3-0 home win over Birmingham was an exhibition of exciting attacking play, the following two games certainly were not, both hampered by poor-quality pitches.

The pitch at Deepdale, especially, looked unsuitable for anything other than hoofball, and we were rewarded with a controlled win that was not an advert for the beautiful game.

Hull had taken a bit better care of their pitch, but it still looked a bit amateurish when I walked up the steps to the press box at the MKM Stadium.

The Tigers were able to put together enough attacking moves to show that the pitch was not the sole reason for Millwall's mostly stilted attacking performance, but it certainly did not help.

I also thought the size of the pitch hindered Millwall a bit - it looked massive from where I was, and it meant Hull had so much space to attack in transition.

Again, it applied to both teams, so hardly an excuse, but it did look to have an effect.

Saying all that, how do you square these two ideas: by and large, Millwall were poor going forward, and they scored three goals to beat a play-off rival.

It helps that one of them came from a set-piece, and the other from an odd goalkeeping error, but still, it feels wrong to say Millwall were poor going forward after they scored three goals away from home.

Perhaps it is just another piece of evidence to tuck into the 'effective' football file. That, increasingly, the Lions have proven they can win regardless of the level of their performance - a trait that is the hallmark of a side destined for great things.

"The simple fact is in the Championship, you need to be able to win games in a variety of different ways," Neil said. "You're not going to play well every single week.

"Look at Coventry, when they had a little bit of a dip. I don't think everybody plays well every week. There are going to be games where you've got to give credit to the opponent.

"They landed on things better than us. I thought they were a bit brighter than us. They moved the ball a bit better than us. But what counts is what happens in both boxes, and we defended really well. We got a little bit of fortune at times, but we were ruthless in the other box."

There is a risk that discussion over Millwall's performance overshadows the importance of the result.

They came to a top-six side's stadium and left with a win, their fourth away win in a row. It put five points between them and the fifth-placed Tigers and means their margin for error continues to widen.

The Lions have fashioned an eleven-point gap to seventh place with ten games remaining (Southampton are eleven points behind with a game in hand)! If a traditional yo-yo club were in this position, the wider media would be convinced they were locked into the play-offs.

Indeed, the various supercomputers are convinced, with a favourite of the column's, the Opta supercomputer, suggesting they have a 98.76 per cent chance of making the play-offs.

A few weeks ago, on the NewsAtDen podcast, we discussed how soon before we could call it. At the time, I thought that talk was far too hasty, but I have come round to the idea that if they keep this up for a few more games, the discussion will shift to automatics rather than whether they will make the top six.