Millwall's Route to Championship Play-Offs: A Winning Strategy
Casper De Norre believes Millwall’s route back into the Championship play-off fight runs straight through enemy territory.
The Belgian midfielder says the Lions’ outstanding away form must again become their calling card if they are to turn last season’s near-miss into something more substantial.
Millwall’s away edge
Millwall were ruthless travellers in the 2025-26 campaign. No one in the division collected more points on the road: 41 from 23 away fixtures. Only champions Coventry City could match their 11 away victories.
That record underpinned their push for automatic promotion, a push that ultimately fell agonisingly short as they missed out on second place to Ipswich Town by a single point in May.
Alex Neil has clearly told his players to treat this season as a continuation, not a reset. The response was immediate. Millwall went to Bristol City on the opening weekend and walked away with a 2-0 win, a performance that looked very familiar to anyone who watched them on their travels last year.
“It’s very important if you want to achieve what we’re trying to achieve to go and get into those play-offs again,” De Norre told BBC Radio London. “You have to be very good both at home and away, so it’s very good that we can start with an away win.
“We’re off to a perfect start. It’s always a difficult game away at Bristol. I think the game just played out perfectly for us.”
Raising the bar
The question now is how high Millwall can aim. With two extra play-off places available this season, the field has widened, but De Norre’s answer is blunt: be better than before.
Asked about realistic expectations, the 29-year-old said: “Try to be a bit better than we were last year. Go into the play-offs and try and finish it in the play-offs rather than going out.”
That last line cuts to the heart of Millwall’s modern history. They have reached the second-tier play-offs four times. Each run has ended in the semi-finals. The door has opened, but never fully.
The club has not played top-flight football since 1990. Last season’s one-point shortfall to Ipswich sharpened the sense that this group is close, that the gap is narrow enough to be bridged by marginal gains: one more away win, one fewer lapse at The Den, one big moment seized instead of squandered.
For De Norre and his teammates, the message is simple. Keep owning the road. Turn those journeys into a habit of winning.
If Millwall can marry that same steel away from home with a stronger finish in the play-offs, this season might finally be the one that breaks a 36-year wait.
