Millwall will be relieved that QPR and Birmingham City couldn't get January deal done: View | OneFootball

Millwall’s 1-0 win over Leicester City in midweek gave their survival hopes a real boost.

The 2023/24 Championship campaign has been a real disappointment for the Lions, as they’ve gone from a team competing at the top end to one that now finds themselves in a relegation fight.

The London side will hope this campaign is a one-off, and they go back to being around the play-offs in the seasons to come.

But, right now, Millwall are in a dog fight, and with four games remaining, they currently have a four-point cushion over third-bottom Sheffield Wednesday.

The Lions have teams like Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers fighting around them, so it will come with even greater relief that the club didn’t lose midfielder Allan Campbell to either side in January.

Birmingham City and QPR were interested in Allan Campbell in January

Millwall signed midfielder Allan Campbell on a season-long loan at the start of the season from Premier League side Luton Town.

The 25-year-old joined the Hatters in 2021, and despite playing an important role in the club’s promotion last season, it was decided that he would be sent out on loan for this campaign.

Millwall won the race, and he immediately became a regular in the team, and he was impressing. However, he lost his place in the team in December and hadn’t featured for the club when this report emerged.

Football Insider that Birmingham City and QPR were both keen on signing the midfielder.

If either side were going to sign the player, it would have meant Luton recalling Campbell from his loan with the Lions and then sending him to either side for the rest of the campaign.

A move didn’t occur, and while he hasn’t played for Millwall since, the club will be relieved he didn’t join either side given the situation they are all in now.

Millwall should have some Campbell relief

Luton would have hoped Campbell joining Millwall would have meant he would have got another campaign of regular football under his belt, and the player would have hoped to use it as a chance to show they were wrong to loan him out.

However, that hasn’t been the case, as while Campbell started the loan pretty well and was playing in most games, it soon changed in December.

The midfielder played just four minutes against Huddersfield Town, and since that game, Campbell hasn’t featured for the club.

The Scotsman has appeared on the bench a few times since, but he has yet to appear under Neil Harris, and that looks like it won't change for the rest of the season.

In the 12 games he has played so far in the league, he has started nine, averaging just 61 minutes on the pitch, per Sofascore.com.

The midfielder hasn’t scored for the Lions, but he has grabbed two assists, but other than that, he hasn’t had much impact on the Championship team.

Campbell hasn’t created any big chances for his teammates, and he has only collected 0.6 key passes from his 17.2 (82%) pass accuracy average per 90, as per Sofascore.com.

So, on some levels, it can be understood why he may not be favoured under Harris, but either way, it is a move that hasn’t gone to plan. However, while Millwall fans may be disappointed they haven’t seen more of the midfielder, the club will be pleased he didn’t depart in January.

Both Birmingham and QPR are fighting at the bottom of the table with Millwall, so if either one of them had signed the midfielder, it could have given them a big edge in the race to beat the drop, as his impact could have been huge.

So, selfishly, Millwall will be pleased the Luton man is still at the club, even though he hasn’t featured since the middle of December.

While this season may be hard to understand why Millwall is glad Campbell didn’t leave, it is easy to see from last season with Luton why Birmingham and QPR wanted the player.

Campbell scored three goals and chipped in with two assists as the Hatters won promotion from the second tier. Six contributions had come the year before, as Luton were building towards their eventual promotion with a top-six finish.

The midfielder was a key operator in that area of the pitch on the way to promotion, as he had a 73% pass accuracy and was impressive in his defensive duties. He made 0.8 interceptions per game and 1.7 tackles, and he won 40% of the duels he was in, per Sofascore.com. He was a key part of a squad that won promotion to the Premier League.

So, while it has been disappointing this season at Millwall, Campbell has talent and stepping towards the bottom third of the division with the Blues or QPR and it clicking, could've been disastrous for the Lions.

Whilst they aren't benefitting much from Campbell themselves, they will be thankful he's not finding his feet for a direct rival.