Millwall return to The Den on Wednesday evening looking to put a chastening weekend defeat behind them when they host Wrexham in the Championship.

Alex Neil’s side had opened the campaign with consecutive victories and clean sheets before suffering a 5-1 defeat at Southampton, while Wrexham are still searching for their first league win after collecting two points from their opening three matches.

Millwall must ensure one bad afternoon does not linger

Few teams had made a more convincing start to the Championship season than Millwall before Saturday.

After finishing third last term, the Lions reinforced a squad already expected to challenge for promotion. Kyrell Lisbie, Mark Sykes, Jenson Metcalfe, Lyndon Dykes, Tairyk Arconte, Elkan Baggott and Jordi Osei-Tutu were among the summer arrivals, giving Neil greater depth after several notable departures.

The early results suggested Millwall were ready to build immediately on last season. Bristol City were beaten 2-0 before Norwich City were dispatched 3-0, leaving the Lions with six points, five goals and two clean sheets from their opening two fixtures.

That made what happened at Southampton all the more surprising. Sykes gave Millwall an early lead and Neil was pleased with their opening 25 minutes, but the match changed completely once Southampton equalised. Cyle Larin scored twice as the Saints eventually ran out 5-1 winners, turning a promising afternoon into Millwall’s heaviest setback of the young campaign.

The challenge now is to prevent that defeat from becoming anything more significant than an isolated collapse. Returning to The Den should help. Millwall have already won there this season and their home ground has traditionally been an important part of their identity, particularly when matches become physical and uncomfortable.

Neil does have several injury concerns. Lukas Jensen, Massimo Luongo, Mathis Servais, Femi Azeez and Mihailo Ivanovic are all expected to remain unavailable.

Josh Coburn should therefore continue through the middle, with summer signings Arconte and Lisbie offering pace and directness from the wider positions.

After conceding five at the weekend, however, the most important improvement may be without the ball. Millwall had not conceded at all before travelling to Southampton; rediscovering that defensive discipline will be Neil’s priority.

Wrexham need performances to start producing victories

Wrexham entered the campaign with ambitions considerably higher than their current position of 20th might suggest. After finishing only two points outside the playoffs last season, Parkinson was backed heavily during the summer. Around £25m was invested in Danny Imray, Benjamin Whiteman, Anthony Patterson, Jacques Ekomie and Issa Kaboré as the club attempted to build a squad capable of taking the next step.

Three matches in, that investment has yet to produce a victory. There have been encouraging periods in 1-1 draws with Cardiff City and Watford, but Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Birmingham City left Wrexham with just two points from a possible nine.

The manner in which they conceded particularly irritated Parkinson. Philip Neumann scored both Birmingham goals, with the Wrexham manager describing them as two of the softest his side had allowed during his tenure.

That is an obvious concern before visiting The Den. Millwall are well equipped to punish poor defending, particularly from crosses, second balls and situations where opponents fail to deal decisively with pressure around their penalty area.

There could at least be an attacking boost for Wrexham. Josh Windass returned from a hamstring injury with a substitute appearance against Birmingham and is now pushing for his first start of the season. His experience and ability to operate between midfield and attack could provide some of the creativity that has been missing.

Ben Sheaf, Liberato Cacace and George Thomason remain unavailable, meaning Lewis O’Brien and Whiteman should continue together in midfield.

Wrexham’s league position may look uncomfortable, but three matches represent a tiny sample. They were close to the playoffs last season and have strengthened substantially since then. The concern is that a difficult opening run could quickly create pressure if promising performances continue to yield too few points.

Verdict: The Den offers Millwall the right place to reset

Saturday’s 5-1 defeat makes Millwall difficult to assess in isolation. Their opening two performances were excellent, while everything unravelled once Southampton found their equaliser at the weekend.

The response should tell us far more about Neil’s side. Wrexham have enough quality to make this competitive, particularly if Windass is ready for a greater role, and their first victory should not be far away. However, defensive mistakes have already proved costly, and The Den is an unforgiving place to make them.

Millwall have shown more across the opening three games, possess home advantage and should be highly motivated to erase the memory of Saturday’s collapse as quickly as possible.

Wrexham can push them, but the Lions are better placed to return to winning ways.

Tip

Millwall to win.