Millwall have had a rollercoaster ride already this season.
Having started their Championship promotion bid with two convincing victories, they then lost their best player and biggest threat Femi Azeez at the very end of the transfer window when Brighton raised their offer to £15m.
That then followed by two heavy league defeats when conceding a total of eight goals to Southampton and Wrexham, that coinciding with a crazy long list of missing players which was increasing match by match.
A 4-0 victory over Bolton halted the rot in the Championship but that simply papered over the cracks, as the second tier strugglers had missed some great chances and got to the 83rd minute only 1-0 down before collapsing late on.
That victory coming at an added price for Millwall though, as key midfielder Jenson Metcalfe was sent off and suspended for this Newcastle United match.
However, a huge boost for Millwall as they have been successful with their appeal and the Metcalfe red card has been rescinded, allowing him to be available tonight.
The official Millwall site giving this update on Tuesday morning regarding player availability to face United: ‘Alex Neil is still without a number of his squad, however, with Casper De Norre and Josh Coburn now joining the list of Tristan Crama, Alfie Doughty, Mathis Servais, Ryan Leonard, Mihailo Ivanovic, Lukas Jensen and Luke Cundle, who are all currently missing. The Lions will assess Kyrell Lisbie before naming the squad to meet The Magpies, with names such Yanis Issoufou and Romain Esse set to feature once more, while a debut awaits for Filip Marschall if selected. Jenson Metcalfe is available for selection after his red card during Saturday’s win over Bolton Wanderers was rescinded.’
It is more than 33 years since the two clubs last met.
Newcastle United won 2-1 at the old Den on 17 April 1993, Barber giving the home side an 18th minute lead before then Lee Clark and Andy Cole scored second half goals to win it. That began a five match winning run to end the season and confirm promotion as champions, with further NUFC wins over Sunderland, Grimsby, Oxford and Leicester.
Kevin Keegan had led Newcastle United to an 11 match winning run to start that 1992/93 second tier season, by the time NUFC faced Millwall on 20 December 1992 at St James’ Park it was already looking very good for promotion. Millwall took a first half lead in that SJP match as well, only for a David Kelly penalty to rescue a point in the 75th minute.
Matthias Jaissle takes his Newcastle United team to the new Den tonight and looking to make it five matches unbeaten.