Portsmouth took another huge stride towards promotion, but their fans were unable to witness a superb display at the New Den capped by Yakubu Ayegbini's double.

Away supporters were banned from the match and they missed seeing the Nigerian striker, on loan to the end of the season from Maccabi Haifa, take his goals tally to five in six appearances for Harry Redknapp's side.

The hard work was done in the first half when Pompey put four goals past their beleaguered opponents, who have now lost their last five games.

Ayegbini opened the scoring after 14 minutes.

Following good work on the right by Kevin Harper, Ayegbini collected the ball on the left of the penalty area and slotted it past Tony Warner.

Then 10 minutes later, Bulgarian Svetoslav Todorov beat two defenders and squared the ball for Ayegbini to net his second.

On the half-hour mark it was 3-0 as Kevin Harper crossed and Tim Sherwood headed in.

Millwall's woes were clearly getting to Dennis Wise and he was involved in a flashpoint soon after the third goal which led to bookings for the former England midfielder and Nigel Quashie.

In stoppage time, Todorov deservedly netted his 16th goal of the season when given the freedom of the pitch by the Millwall defence.

Portsmouth sat back after the break with the job effectively done, while Mark McGhee's side came out trying to gain some respectability.

At least the home fans got to see Richard Sadlier in action again after he went on as substitute for Steve Claridge in the 55th minute, his first appearance since the opening day of the season having been sidelined with a hip injury.

But their cheers soon turned to silence as Merson converted a penalty after Ayegbini had been fouled by Paul Robinson to round off another terrific performance by the Division One leaders.

Teams

Millwall: Warner, Reid, Ryan, Ward, Robinson, Ifill, Wise, Livermore, Kinet, Harris, Claridge (Sadlier 56).

Subs Not Used: Gueret, Dunne, Hearn, Rees.

Booked: Livermore, Wise, Robinson.

Portsmouth: Hislop, Primus, De Zeeuw, Festa, Harper (Crowe 59), Sherwood, Merson (Diabate 81), Quashie, Taylor, Todorov (Pericard 77), Ayegbini.

Subs Not Used: Kawaguchi, O'Neil.

Booked: Quashie, Crowe.

Goals: Ayegbini 15, 25, Sherwood 31, Todorov 45, Merson 72 pen.

Att: 9,697

Ref: H Webb (S Yorkshire).