Millwall’s Ryan Leonard on why he is optimistic ahead of the new season, Alex Neil’s tactical work in pre-season – and which new signing impressed with their musical talent.

RYAN Leonard hopes Millwall can carry their strong finish from last season into the new season. The Lions won five of their last six games as they closed in on the play-off race, but they fell just short on the final day of the season, losing 3-1 at Burnley.

As a result, Millwall finished just two points outside the top six, having been on the verge of relegation when Alex Neil took over as Lions manager on December 30, 2024.

When asked by NewsAtDen if he was optimistic about the season, Millwall vice-captain Leonard responded, “Yeah, of course you have to be. This is a season where we hope to improve on last year.

We finished the season strongly last year, but we obviously missed out. “But we need to keep doing what we did last year and build on it from there, and I believe it’s shown in preseason.

We’ve tried it before, and we’ll keep trying.” Neil’s first full pre-season with his squad is underway, and the Scotsman has begun implementing tactical ideas that he had little time to implement during his first five months in charge due to the hectic Championship schedule.

“The gaffer is big on shape, he’s big on how we want to play, and we’ve been working really hard on that,” Leonard told the media. “We’ve been working on ways to hurt the opposition.

“I think it’s shown in pre-season; we’ve scored some really good goals and have been solid defensively so far. So far, it’s been a very enjoyable preseason. “It’s been difficult, but it’s something we’ve worked hard on.

A lot of tactics, a lot of fitness, and, as you mentioned, we’ve got two more friendlies to go before we’re ready to go, which can’t come soon enough.”

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