Ex QPR man and Chelsea legend help close the door on Millwall's late surge of hope

A nail in the Lions' coffin : Picture by @YTJourno

A Read Between the Lines as play-off hopefuls Bristol City beat fellow promotion hopefuls Sunderland 2-1

Let's face it, it was always going to be an Easter longshot.

But that 1-0 win for Millwall against Middlesbrough the other day - another of the play-off contenders - raised hopes. In spite of a natural tendency towards the rational, Lions fans could not help but daydream.

A BBC report this week coughed out a probability prediction of around 10 per cent that Millwall could end up in the end of season roulette for that third promotion spot.

The run under Alex Neil has been laudable. Five wins in seven matches - with just two defeats coning at top four sides Leeds and Sunderland - propelled them into the conversation about the chase for sixth spot.

The 4-1 Good Friday mauling at Blackburn ended the reverie, though, while events elsewhere snuffed out the remaining sliver to cling on to.

Neil said he was dismayed that his players lacked self belief after conceding the third goal at the start of the second half, but perhaps it was because they knew it was likely to be a lost cause anyway because of what was going on in Bristol and Coventry.

Those two City clubs hold down the coveted fifth and sixth spots and ideas that the former might slip up at Ashton Gate after going a goal down to a 10-man Wearsiders evaporated after the interval.

Sunderland, who had Trai Hume sent off for a last man foul on ex QPR striker Nahki Wells early on, led thanks to a superb solo run from teenage Spaniard Eliezer Mayenda.

But the game swung on a decisive and out-of-character long distance drive from another former Hoops man, Rob Dickie.

The central defender had an outstanding match in the heart of the Robins' defence but his sumptuous 55th minutes strike from outside the box - only his second goal of the season - was the moment the pendulum swung decisively.

The 29-year-old, who moved from Loftus Road for £1m in June 2023, raised the roof with his special moment in front of a sellout crowd.

Tails up, it was no surprise that an in-form City should go on to claim all three points with a goal from Ross McCrorie, 14 minutes from time. Seven wins in 12, with just one defeat at Burnley shows they have the momentum.

One possible avenue closed then for Millwall, and another seemed to shut firmly in the Midlands, as Frank Lampard's Sky Blues got the better of West Brom 2-0 - leaving the Baggies, like the Lions, also standed on 60 points. The ex Chelsea player and boss has been a huge success since replacing the popular Mark Robins.

Throw in the last-gasp winner for Middlesbrough to take them to 63 points - below Bristol's 67 and Coventry's 66 - and the Easter Monday clash with Norwich at the Den looks redundant. Especially as the goal difference of -3 effectively puts the Lions a further point out of reach of the top six.

It has been a hugely uplifting end to the season but the glass ceiling appears to have been reached.