The Will Scott Column: Norwich setback disappointing but should not obscure Millwall’s impressive season

NO matter how much Millwall has evolved over the past couple of seasons, they still occasionally slip into old habits.

Going from pulling off their best result of the season to relinquishing a one-goal lead at home within three days felt like a return to the Millwall of the late 2010s or early 2020s.

Fans headed to a sold-out, sunny Den on Easter Monday with so much hope, yet by 3pm the promise of another step towards greatness had been quashed by a very effective Norwich City side.

There was nothing about that performance that warranted a smattering of booing, though. Perhaps if that had been part of a stretch of erratic or subpar results, then maybe it could be justified, but it has been a truly remarkable campaign - they had already matched the points total of Neil Harris' 2017-18 side by last Friday and are just five points off the 2001-02 side (for the full story of that season click here ).

Short of a complete collapse in the final five games of the season, there is not much Alex Neil's team could do to deserve booing after what they have already achieved, but it was still a disappointing day.

That Middlesbrough win, which summed up everything fantastic about this squad: grit, determination, defensive brilliance, leadership and the ability to conjure up match-winning moments, had thrust Millwall into second, and the fixture changes meant they were protagonists on Easter Monday.

Win, and they would put real pressure on Boro and Ipswich Town below them, both of whom had tricky fixtures. At the very least, it would keep them in second.

Instead, they conceded two soft goals and allowed their top-two rivals to leapfrog them.

The disappointment was magnified by the fact that it was at home.

Perhaps if it were in some far-flung stadium in Yorkshire or East Anglia, with fewer fans in attendance, there would be less of an online backlash.

Indeed, it seems like the away fans (and this reporter) see all the glory these days.

Certainly, Millwall's trend of underwhelming first-half performances is easier to get away with on the road. At home, nerves can set in a bit too quickly if your side is not up to scratch.

The Lions just looked really edgy in the opening 45, lacking quality and composure on the ball, and coughing up the ball under no pressure too often.

Still, it felt like that had been overcome in the second half. The script was being followed carefully.

Neil made his tactical and personnel changes, gave them a right bollocking and that, as it has in the past couple of games, looked to be enough.

Substitute Mihailo Ivanovic finished off a lovely move (scoring his ninth of the season, three off last year's tally), and once Millwall get a lead, you do back them to keep it.

Backs to the wall defending was the order of the day, but that had rarely failed them.

Yet, it was two bits of poor defending that let Norwich steal all the points.

Neil identified three errors in the build-up to the first, but at least it was a fantastic strike, unlike the second, which felt particularly sloppy. I do not want to dwell on it too much, but Millwall have gotten away with it in transition a few times recently (especially against Ipswich), and I am not too surprised they have been punished.

They were punished off the pitch as well. Ipswich were never going to let a moment like that slip, even if they did benefit from another dodgy refereeing decision, ruling out what looked like a perfectly good Birmingham City equaliser (Imagine if that and the Sturge calls went the other way...)

What makes it hard to take is that Millwall were not played off the pitch.

Sure, the Lions were not at their best. They looked leggy, nervous and did not quite match the occasion, but as they have done recently, still found a way to make it work and produce that moment of quality.

Norwich were not running all over them. The game was well-balanced at 1-1, the next moment just fell the Canaries' way.

Teams do sometimes lose those games on a knife-edge. I guess it speaks to how much Millwall have raised the standards recently that we came away disappointed with a loss against a team in as good form as Norwich are (should be in the top six at least, really).

As Neil has often said, it was another game that came down to fine margins.

"Today, although I thought Norwich were dominant in the first half, which they were, even second half, it was more in transition where they were a threat rather than actually sustained attacks and building up the pitch and working through us," Neil said. "It was more when it dropped, they made a couple of passes down the sides, and then they could attack. If we control those moments, and we make more of our moments, that ultimately decides games at this level.

"The margins at the level are so fine. In the Middlesbrough game, everybody will talk about how well Middlesbrough played. The simple fact is that the game is decided in both boxes. Can you score, and can you defend your box? In the main, we have been brilliant at both."

Still, regardless of why or how it happened, it does feel like that loss severely dented any hopes of an unlikely top-two finish.

Ipswich are level on points and have a better goal difference.

Millwall will need to get more points in their remaining five games than they do in their remaining seven. Not so easy!

Now, the Tractor Boys do have some tricky games, as do Boro, while on paper, Millwall's fixture looks kinder.

But, games against teams at the bottom of the league are banana skins in their own right. They play with a frenzied desperation, and like a wounded animal can lash out and upset the applecart. Even teams supposedly on the beach (or in pursuit of the vaunted twelfth-placed cup) can play with far less pressure, which is an advantage in itself.

Nothing is easy in the Championship, and there'll be more twists and turns to come. Norwich was just another.

Neil's side absolutely deserve the benefit of the doubt. They have shown they respond to downturns well and have only lost back-to-back games once this season.

They will be absolutely raging about surrendering a lead at home, and will have three days to stew about it at Calmont Road before taking on West Brom.

It's easy to change your mind after each result, but a win there and Norwich besting Ipswich on Saturday would have led to a very different narrative come next week...