Alex Neil has conceded Millwall have never ‘done well’ at Fratton Park since Pompey’s return to the Championship.

And the head coach believes the Blues have been ‘excellent’ as their impressive Championship turnaround continues to gather momentum.

John Mousinho’s troops are back in action this weekend as their gruelling schedule continues, with their fifth game in 13 days.

Wins against Sheffield United and Norwich City were followed by a hard-fought draw against Wolves in midweek, with injuries continuing to hamper the head coach’s options.

Millwall boss makes Pompey admission ahead of Fratton test

Nonetheless, their brilliant turnaround has lifted them into 13th and are now just two points behind the play-offs ahead of Saturday’s game against Millwall.

And the head coach has stated his side haven’t ‘done well’ at Fratton Park in recent seasons and is well aware of the difficult challenges facing Millwall this weekend.

Speaking to Southwark News, he said: ‘I don’t think we’ve done well at Portsmouth in the two years I’ve been here. Even though we won the first one, I don’t think we played particularly well.

‘Portsmouth have been good this year. I watched them at Lincoln, when I was preparing for Lincoln. I thought they were excellent. They won 3-1.

‘We are going to have to play far better than we did at the weekend if we want to try and get something again.’

Millwall ‘determination’ ahead of Pompey

Despite a play-off semi-final finish last term, Millwall have failed to replicate that form in the opening 11 games of the new season.

The south London outfit make the trip to Fratton Park sitting level with Pompey on 15 points, with the same goal difference.

Neil’s side picked up a point last-time out against newly-promoted Lincoln City, having come fro, 2-0 to earn a draw at The Den.

And the head coach has made it clear his side have to ‘have a bit of character’ to respond to their disappointment against the Imps last Saturday.

‘There’ll be a determination (to set it right). The good thing about football, you get an opportunity in the next game to go and perform better.

‘What I will say is, if you look at West Ham, for instance, the performance in the first half was great. We get the same amount of points at Lincoln as we do for West Ham.

‘The one positive I did take from the game was the fact that we did have a bit of character to get ourselves back into the match and make sure we got something from it.’