TEN-man Cheltenham Town faced an uphill struggle to get anything out of their tricky trip to the New Den after striker Barry Hayles was sent off midway through the opening period.

Hayles was shown a straight red for a late challenge on Millwall defender Paul Robinson when the pair contested a high ball in the 24th minute as Cheltenham were forced to endure relentless pressure.

It was Martin Allen's side who went closest to breaking the deadlock, though, when Alex Russell rattled a post from the edge of the box in the 35th minute.

The Robins had managed to stand their ground well in the face of Millwall's superior possession and restricted them to just two meaningul opportunities.

Defender Michael Townsend was on hand to thwart Lewis Grabban when he broke clear after capitalising on a Gavin Caines mis-kick in the 22nd minute.

The Millwall striker had another chance soon after but arrowed a shot over the bar following nifty footwork to create the opening.

Allen made three changes from the side that opened his tenure with a 2-1 win over Bristol Rovers.

The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Paul Connor in an unfamiliar central midfield role in place of David Bird, who was relegated to the bench.

That experiment lasted less than 25 minutes, before Bird was introduced alongside Russell and Connor was switched to the right-hand side in place of substituted Josh Low.

New signing Drissa Diallo was handed a debut at right-back, with Andy Gallinagh dropping out.

Townsend got his first start under the new manager because of an injury to Shane Duff.

Millwall: Forde, Robinson, Whitbread, Alexander, Grabban, Hackett, Craig, Brkovic, Martin, Fuseini, Abdou. Subs: Edwards, Frampton, Grimes, Forbes, Laird.

Cheltenham: Higgs, Wright, Caines, Townsend, Low, Connor, Russell, Hayles, Murray, Owusu, Diallo. Subs: Scott P Brown, Bird, Ben Gill, Vincent, Gallinagh.