Millwall boss Neil Harris on why there should be no favourites tag for tomorrow’s FA Cup fifth round clash with AFC Wimbledon

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Neil Harris is not tagging his Millwall side as the favourites going into tomorrow’s FA Cup fifth round tie at AFC Wimbledon.

The Lions are a division above their League One hosts but could be without top-scorer Lee Gregory, who came off with a calf injury in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday. Ex-Dons fans’ favourite Tom Elliott, pictured below, sat out midweek with a bacterial infection.

The winner of the tie banks £360,000 in prize money and the twist from this stage of the tournament is that there are no replays. 

It means extra-time and penalties could be in store at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

“I think it is a shame for us and Wimbledon because replays have been a historical thing in the FA Cup and replays are also a big financial revenue,” said Millwall boss Harris. “It means it is a massive advantage to be pulled out of the draw first because you know your fans are going to be there the whole way.

“That evens out to a certain degree with the level of football the two teams play at. We know the rules. There is not going to be a replay because the big Premier League clubs don’t want replays. It is the way football is run now.

“When it comes to a penalty shootout, I’ll have an idea who I like and trust to take them.  But then you get someone like Byron Webster, when he was here he would be desperate to take them and was outstanding in practise. I’d have had no hesitation in him stepping up in any match.

“You’ll always get the ones who want to do it and the others who won’t want to put themselves forwards because it is not really their niche.

“It becomes about who has that confidence and belief, a strong enough mentality. That’s all I ask my players.”

Millwall are fancied by the bookies to be the South London club to book their last-eight slot.

“I don’t look at this tie as us being the favourites,” said Harris. “Look at Millwall-Everton – we were underdogs by name and stature. But the game was even.

“The fact they are at home and there is no replay puts things on an even keel.

“We’re preparing for the Wimbledon team that has done so well in the FA Cup. League form is irrelevant. West Ham came unstuck there in the last round.

“If my players can’t rise to the occasion of the FA Cup fifth round then I think you will be questioned, and those questions will come from me.

“QPR had not been at this stage in 22 years. At Millwall we almost take it for granted. Reaching the quarter-finals two years ago was a monumental effort. It’s the same this time. My players won’t have many opportunities in their career to play in a quarter-final or a semi-final.”

Harris was in the Wembley crowd when Wimbledon stunned Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup final.

The Lions chief said: “I can remember bits of that match. It’s like the 1986 one, when Liverpool beat Everton.

“There aren’t loads of Premier League teams left in it this season. It means that fans, players and staff start to dream.”