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Neil not focused on Millwall's play-off rivals after goalless draw at West Brom

  /  autty

Alex Neil insisted that full focus remains on Millwall and not their Championship play-off rivals after dropping points away to West Brom.

Neil watched on as his team played out a 0-0 draw at The Hawthorns on Friday, a result that moved them back up to second in the table, though it was an opportunity missed. 

The Lions had the better of the chances in the first half, with Josh Coburn's volley flashing wide before Mihailo Ivanovic saw his effort thunder against the West Brom crossbar. 

Camiel Neghli then forced a good stop from Max O'Leary soon after, but the hosts improved after the break as Daryl Dike and Jayson Molumby both fired wide of the mark. 

West Brom could have even won it late on when the ball dropped kindly Molumby inside the box, but Anthony Patterson made himself big to thwart his close-range shot. 

Neil's side will feel they failed to pile the pressure on Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town, with the latter, who are on point behind the Lions, boasting three games in hand. 

"We're not relying on anybody [else]. Our aim is always to get as many points as possible," Neil told Sky Sports. "I don't focus on what other teams are going, I only focus on us.

"It's another point on the board, we are focused on getting as many points on the board as we can, a game at a time.

"I always tell the players if you can't win the game, don't lose the game. We take the point, four games to go, we'll try to win them all."

In an entertaining affair, it was West Brom who edged the expected goals (xG) battle, registering a total of 1.44 from their 16 shots to Millwall's 1.14 from their 11 attempts. 

However, Molumby's 82nd-minute attempt was their only shot on target, though the draw does move the Baggies five points clear of the bottom three with four games of their season remaining. 

The result also kept West Brom's resurgence under James Morrison rolling on. Since the start of March, West Brom are one of only three sides unbeaten in the Championship (W2 D5), along with high-flyers Southampton and Ipswich.

"I'm really happy. Three games in a week, after an international break, we kept pushing to the end," Morrison said.

"We had some tired legs out there, but we just needed a ball to fall to us [in the right area].

"In the first half they looked dangerous, they counter-attacked us too many times, but we sorted that out.

"I stand here pretty happy because we are fighting and pushing. There was a bit more quality in the final third too, which I was pleased about."

Morrison added that he intends to give his squad the day off on Saturday but asked if he'd watch Albion's relegation rivals in action, he added: "I'll watch with a bit of nerve."

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