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| By BRIAN
STATER
MILLWALL manager George Graham has
drawn up a short-list of wanted strikers. The Lions boss has been on the
look-out for a front runner all season, but the quest has taken on fresh
urgency since the groin injury to star striker Dean Neal. Graham said,
"I've compiled a list of the people I'm interested in and they are
mainly playing for clubs in higher divisions."
I understand that Graham has little
ready cash available, so will probably restrict his moves to players who
cannot command regular first team places. Graham has long argued that he
need another forward as cover for the regular duo of Neal and
Kevin Bremner. |
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Meanwhile Steve Lovell, the two-goal stand-in who clinched the points
that took Millwall in to second spot in the Third Division against
Brentford on Saturday, will continue in the Lions attack. And that means
there's no place for youngster Teddy Sheringham, who initially replaced
Neal.
Graham admitted,
"Sheringham is only 18 and he has still got to bridge the gap up to
first team football. He's definitely got the ability, but he has had a
problem making the transition." Neal's groin strain is likely to
Keep him out of the side at York on Saturday, but midfield men Tony
Kinsella and Nicky Chatterton are close to recovery.
• Millwall's
two Milk Cup games with Chelsea netted the club around £40,000. |
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IT'S fingers crossed for
Carl Cowley.
The teenage Millwall defender is
Hearing the end of a two-year injury nightmare — but his biggest test
has yet to come. He must prove he can make a first-team comeback.
Cowley, rated as one of the most
promising players at The Den, is nearing fitness after a heart-breaking
series of operations on his left foot.
He is currently undergoing strenuous
work-outs at a North London rehabilitation centre. Cowley said,
"The physio is delighted with my progress and reckons I could
definitely be ready to start again inside a month." The 19-year-old
is on a monthly contract at Millwall and the club will consider a
long-term deal if Cowley can prove his fitness
Cowley said, "The whole problem
dates back to December 1982, when I fractured the foot in a reserve
match. "I had operations to have the bones screwed together, and
another to take the screws out. When that failed I had a bone graft from
my hip in May this year."
Also at the Camden centre is fellow
defender Paul Robinson, who is out of plaster after breaking his leg in
a pre-season friendly at Colchester.
He will need at least six weeks of
treatment before he can consider a return.
Outfit
Meanwhile manager George Graham takes
his second-placed outfit to York tomorrow for a crunch Third Division
outing. Millwall are two points ahead of third-placed York and one
behind leaders Bristol Rovers, who are at home to Doncaster tomorrow. |
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· Cowley
Hopeful
Graham said, "Things I are going
very well at the moment but we mustn't get carried away. Obviously it
would be encouraging to win at York, but it wouldn't be a catastrophe if
we lost." Leading scorer Dean Neal is still sidelined with a groin
strain, so stand-in striker Steve Lovell will spearhead the attack.
Midfield duo Nicky Chatterton
and Tony Kinsella are ruled out with injury, though Kinsella is
approaching full fitness after ligament trouble in his ankle.
The former Irish Under-21
international came through Tuesday's 3 reserve clash with Crystal Palace
that saw Millwall win 2-0, with axed defender Micky Mutton grabbing both
goals.
Brian Stater |
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| STEVE Lovell has made
George Graham's search for another striker less urgent. The former
Palace player has emerged in recent weeks as a prolific goal scorer,
sharing the top Millwall scorers spot with Dean Neal with eight
goals.
Yet, during his stay at the Palace
Lovell only scored three times and found the net just eight times for
the Lions last season. Graham gambled in moving the 5ft 9ins player up
front, where he still manages to out jump lanky defenders for winning
headers.
Graham said: "Anyone I buy
will have to be as good, if not better, than the players I have. What
pleases me is that the gamble with Steve came off. He loves going
forward and I've given him the freedom to do so. Nicky Chatterton went
to see a specialist on Tuesday and may return a lot quicker than we had
hoped for."
The club report record receipts for
the Chelsea second leg Milk Cup-tie, taking in £38,626.50 with a gate
now revised to 11,300. This Saturday the Lions travel to York, who are
just two points behind them. On Tuesday they are at home to Lincoln and
should maintain their 100 per cent home record. |
| Millwall are almost
there
Promotion-hunting Millwall came within
six minutes of gaining their fourth win in a row but were denied by a
Rick Sbragia equaliser in a 1-1 draw at York.
Millwall grabbed a 21st minute
lead after a fine run by Anton Otulakowski ended with Steve Lovell's
strike. Lindsay Smith and Dave Cusack were outstanding in defence as
Millwall soaked up second halt pressure. |
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| ANTON SHOWS
CLASS
York 1 Millwall 1
A Formidable Millwall team, full
of commitment and strength at the back, were denied victory by an
equaliser six minutes from time. Rickie Sbragia produced the
face-saver to avoid a fourth defeat on the trot for York.
The Londoners led from the 21st
minute. Anton Otulakowski, their outstanding
player, started a run from
midfield, beating two men before pushing- through a perfect pass for
Steve Lovell to shoot under the body of Roger Jones as he came out.
Millwall, going for a fourth. win in
succession, strung four men across the middle, and tied up York, who
kept stumbling into one tackle too many. |
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| York City
1 (0) |
Millwall
1 (1) |
| Sbragia
(84) |
Lovell
(21) |
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Att 4,774 |
MILLWALL didn't manage to go top of
the Third Division table on Saturday - but they won't have to wait much
longer. That's the view of York chief Denis Smith who rated the Lions as
certainties to lead the pack after Saturday's draw.
Smith's outfit denied Millwall top
spot with a last-gasp goal, but he afterwards insisted that George
Graham's line-up are in line for promotion. Millwall had come close to
chalking up a fourth win in a row as their resolute defence suffocated
York's free scoring attack.
York's leveller, following a
corner, came in the 84th minute after
Steve Lovell had fired Millwall into a first half lead following
brilliant work by Anton Otulakowski. |
The real winner was a near gale force
wind which made a mockery of efforts to display skill although the sides
served up an entertaining top three clash.
George
Graham said, "It was disappointing to concede an equaliser so late
but with the wind we had anything could happen. It made the game a bit
of a freak."
Central defenders Lindsay Smith and
Dave Cusack were outstanding for the Lions.
Millwall's goal followed a touch of
class by Otulakowski whose skill was a constant threat. He beat two
defenders in a run deep into the York half before pushing the ball
through for Lovell to shoot past Roger Jones.
Lovell has proved the perfect
understudy for injured striker Dean Neal, scoring in each of the last
two games and showing an aerial |
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power
that will continue to unnerve Third Division defences.
York piled on the second half pressure
but Millwall goalkeeper Paul Sansome pulled off two fine saves from Gary
Ford and Keith Stevens blocked a Houchen shot.
But the pressure finally told as
Walwyn knocked down a corner and Ricky Sbragia crashed in the equaliser.
Otulakowski was among the three
players booked, the others being York's Hay and MacPhail.
York: Jones, Evans, Hay, Sbragia,
MacPhail, Hood, Ford, Hasslegrave, Walwyn, Houchen, Pearce (Butler).
Millwall: Sansome, Stevens, Roffey,
Briley, Smith, Cusack, Lowndes, Bremner, McLeary, Lovell, Otulakowski.
Ref: J Ball (Leicester) |
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York 1, Millwall
1
MILLWALL, second from top, came within
six minutes of winning their fourth successive match at Bootham Crescent
on Saturday. Their boss George Graham, said: "The conditions were
bud for football, but I'm not sure it would have been a better game in
perfect conditions bearing in mind the importance of the occasion.
"I thought we were going to hang
on to three points, but in all honesty I can't begrudge York a point
because they put us under a great deal of pressure".
Ricky Spragia, back after a
three-match absence through injury, celebrated his return with an 84th
minute equaliser which gave York their deserved share of the points. Up
till then it had looked as though the Lions were going to send third
placed York to their fourth successive defeat.
Resistance
Millwall showed why they are strong
promotion candidates with a well organised team performance. They
created just one chance in the match, scored from it and then put up
such defensive resistance that York must have thought they would never
score. |
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Then, with time running out, former
Orient striker, Keith Houchen had a shot parried for a corner by Paul
Sansome.
Alan Hay took it and Keith Walwyn
headed across goal after Houchen had seen a shot blocked by Keith
Stevens on the line, Sbragia was there to crack in the rebound.
Millwall had taken the lead lifter 21
minutes, the industrious Anton Otulakowski beating Gary Ford and Chris
Evans before providing Steve Lovell with a chance to slot the ball past
the oncoming Roger Jones, for his ninth goal of the season.
Thereafter it was the fine defence of
Millwall, with centre backs Lindsay Smith and Dave Cusack outstanding, -
plus two brilliant saves by Sansome - which kept York at
bay.
York: Jones, Evans, Hay, Sbragia,
MacPhail, Hasselgrave, Ford, Hood, Walwyn, Houchen, Pearce (Butler. 75
mins)
Millwall: Sansome, Stevens, Roffey,
Briley, Smith, Cusack, Lowndes, Bremner, McLeary, Lovell, Otulakowski
Sub: Nutton.
Ref: J. Ball Att: 4,774 |
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