By Jr
August 22 2004

The Lions' solidity defensively paved the way to a creditable victory away at Coventy. More stubborn than stylish? Sounds like a certain team in west London, with a long association with Dennis Wise and Ray Wilkins. If Chelsea are winning that way, then Millwall are taking a leaf out of their book. A 1-0 away win at Coventry City – thanks to Danny Dichio’s solitary strike - propelled Millwall to sixth in the Coca Cola Championship, but assistant boss Ray Wilkins refused to get carried away.

He said: “We just about deserved to win the game on the balance of play.

“We had a very good chance in the first half and a few more towards the end of the game as well.”

Dichio plundered the winning goal in the 79th minute, heading home player boss Dennis Wise’s free kick unmarked at the far post.

The tall targetman had been a constant thorn in Coventry’s side, going close in the first half as well.

Wise was the provider once more, as Dichio escaped his markers to head goalwards only to see Sky Blues keeper Scott Shearer parry the effort and Mark McCammon blast the rebound over.

Dichio went even closer just before he scored, looping a header from a Josh Simpson free kick against the crossbar.

The Canadian international who supplied the chance also threatened with a toe poke, after a marauding run, but Shearer got his fingertips to it.

The ever-alert Jody Morris picked up the pieces, but thrashed his volley just wide of the near post.

Simpson certainly deserved a goal for his contribution and Wilkins said: “I think Dennis initially saw Josh as a left sided player, but he’s come in and done very well at left full back.”

Simpson along with his compatriot Adrian Serioux have been revelations since their arrival, and bearing in mind their involvement in a midweek World Cup qualifier on another continent, their contribution was quite remarkable.

Wilkins said: “They’ve done a lot of travelling. They’ve done a lot of football in a week, but full credit to both of them for their fitness levels.

“They’re both extremely tired, as you can imagine, but they’ve done us proud.”

Wise, though, managed to steal the limelight with an inspirational performance on the right side of Millwall’s diamond formation.

Wilkins added: “When Dennis doesn’t play, we’re not half as influential as when he does.

“Dennis has got a good range of passing and therefore from dead balls we’re going to be dangerous because he can put the ball on a sixpence.”

Despite Wise’s probing passes and crosses, Millwall’s foundations for victory were built on a solid back four and a committed team performance but Wilkins felt there was room for improvement.

He said: “If the truth is known we’d have liked to play a lot more football.

“As a spectacle it turned into two teams really struggling to get the ball and play.

“But when you come away from home you need to be tight and strong and that’s what we were.

“It’s always nice to win away from home.

“We usually do very well at home at the Den but it’s always nice to win on your travels.

“Last year, Coventry smashed us 4-0 here, so I think the lads were a little bit fired up and ready for the battle.

“Coventry were coming at us at the end and there were a few gaps at the back.

“We managed to get on top of them and if we’d been a bit more clinical we might have scored a couple more, but I don’t think that would have been a fair reflection of the game.”

“Our system is designed to make us extremely solid. By playing this system, we gave a little bit of width away, both as an attacking and a defensive force. But we’re certainly very solid though the middle of the field.”

The Lions will certainly need to be resolute defensively against high flying Reading who visit the Den on Saturday (kick off 3pm), as the Royals have got the better of Millwall in the last four encounters.