Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder was pleased with how his players dealt with the blood and thunder of Millwall as they claimed a creditable 1-1 draw at The Den.
The Blades arguably had the better of the chances against their play-off chasing hosts, who remain in a strong position inside the top six of the Sky Bet Championship.
While the Lions’ three-match winning run at home could not be extended, they are five points ahead of seventh-placed Derby after earning a share of the spoils thanks to Mihailo Ivanovic’s leveller.
Sheffield United, meanwhile, gave further evidence of being in a false position in the table with their performance, which backed up their display in defeating high-flying Ipswich last Saturday.
Wilder said: “I said to them before the game, I always think it’s a sign of a good player in the Championship from a mentality point of view if they play well here and if the team plays well here.
“I believe we were coming to arguably the hardest away fixture that we could have at this particular moment with the form that they’re in and full house and them flying and winning 4-0 in the last game [against Charlton] and their team in the position that they are and the quality that they’ve got and how they work for each other.
“I said before I knew what was coming, they mixed the game up, but we went toe-to-toe with them.
“I think there will always be home supporters that won’t be happy about the result, but I think, taking the result out of it, was a top game with two good sides going toe-to-toe.”
Millwall were almost ahead early on when Ivanovic laid the ball into the path of Macauley Langstaff who was denied by a good save from Sheffield United goalkeeper Michael Cooper.
The Blades then took the lead themselves after 17 minutes when Andre Brooks cut inside from the right before his low shot snuck in at the near post.
But the Lions were level just two minutes later when Caleb Taylor headed on Femi Azeez’s free-kick for Ivanovic to poke in the equaliser via an upright.
Tom Cannon then had a header saved by Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe before the rebound was fluffed by Callum O’Hare, who missed another big chance to restore his side’s lead in the second half.
Millwall boss Alex Neil said: “It was exactly the type of game I thought it would be.
“I knew it was going to be competitive, I knew it was going to be two teams really going at it and both trying to score. It was always going to be a case of who could hurt who most.
“I think my frustration at the start of the game was I thought we had the best chance, we didn’t take it, then they go up the other end [and score].
“I thought their goal was a good bit of quality for them but disappointing from our point of view, in terms of defending.
“Throughout the game, I thought our right-hand side caused them problems defensively and I thought their right-hand side caused us problems defensively.
“I didn’t think there was loads in the game in the second half for either team, the game sort of ebbed and flowed a little bit.”
