Neil Harris ready for FA Cup draw ritual as Millwall await quarter-final fate

Millwall 
Millwall are into the FA Cup quarter-finals for second time in three years Credit: PA

No wonder watching the FA Cup draw has become a family ritual in the Harris household. On Monday, Neil Harris, his wife and their children will take their usual places on the sofa and wait, like millions of football fans, to see the balls drawn.

This will be the second time in three years that Harris will be waiting to find out who his Millwall side will face in the quarter-finals.

His love for the tournament dates further back than his managerial career, as May will mark 15 years since he was part of the Millwall team that reached the 2004 final.

And as a child he was at Wembley to see Wimbledon, the team Millwall dumped out on Saturday, beat Liverpool in one of the competition’s most famous finals.

“I’ve always been honest enough to say I love the competition,” said Harris. “I grew up watching it. I saw Wimbledon beat Liverpool at Wembley, went with my father to watch the game. He was a Wimbledon fan, so I really enjoyed that.

“I loved it as a player and a manager. It brings out the best in us. This competition is built on clubs like Millwall and Wimbledon and Newport, and of causing the upsets – that’s what it’s all about.

Neil Harris
Neil Harris loves the FA Cup with heart and soul Credit: getty images

“I’m a passionate English football fan, travelled around the world to watch England play, so I think I understand and get the competition, and I understand the value, its importance to the supporters, and certainly the importance financially to my owner.”

Millwall were beaten by a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Manchester United in 2004, while Tottenham Hotspur, for whom Son Heung-min netted a hat-trick, thrashed Harris’s team 6-0 at White Hart Lane in the last eight two years ago.

“I would like to be in the quarter-final at the Den,” said Harris. “The last time we went to Spurs and it was a difficult afternoon, a great learning curve for all of us, because their mentality and professionalism on the day was unbelievable. So I would like to be at home, that’s important.

“I’ll watch the draw with my wife and children like I always do. Whether we (Millwall) are in it or not, we sit there for a half an hour waiting for it to come on. We sit down at seven and it comes on at 7.25pm. That’s what I’ve done for the last round and the year before that, and the year before that. Whether we are in it or not, because I love the competition.”

Just as Harris is developing a reputation for being somewhat of a cup specialist, so is Murray Wallace, who netted the stoppage-time winner against Everton and then scored the goal that knocked out AFC Wimbledon.

Millwall had failed to score in or win any of their three Championship games between the Everton and Wimbledon ties. They are just two points above the relegation zone, but have two games in hand thanks to their cup run.

Asked how he will keep the concentration of his players on the league campaign while preparations for another quarter-final begin, Harris said: “We don’t lose that focus in the changing room.

“You try and pick the players that can adapt from one day to the next, it’s trying to keep the fan-base settled – the League is important.

“I think we know how hard it is to stay in the Championship. We know how hard the fight is we are having at the moment. But that is six wins and three draws and two defeats in 11 games. So we know we have got momentum and results like today just carry that into Wednesday against Derby County.”

Match details

AFC Wimbledon: Ramsdale 7; Sibbick 7, Oshilaja 7, Nightingale 6, McDonald 6; McLoughlin 6, Hartigan 6 (Pinnock 63, 6), Wordsworth 6, Garratt 5 (Barcham, 46, 7); Folivi 7, Pigott 6 (Connolly 63, 6). Subs not used: McDonnell, Thomas, Wagstaff, Soares.

Millwall: Archer 7; Romeo 6, Pearce 7, Cooper 7, M Wallace 7; Leonard 6, Williams 7; J Wallace 6, O’Brien 6 (Elliott 65, 6), Ferguson 6; Gregory 7 (Hutchinson 90). Subs not used: Martin, Tunnicliffe, Morrison, Skalak, Hanson.

Referee: Jonathan Moss.

Attendance: 4,795.

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