Marvin Williams climbed from the bench to earn Millwall a dramatic victory with a stoppage-time winner against Luton at The Den.

Chris Coyne looked to have denied Millwall a precious win in their fight to beat the drop from the Coca-Cola Championship when he cancelled out Ben May's opener shortly after the break.

But as the clock ticked down, Williams latched on to some poor Luton defending to put another dent in their fading play-off hopes and move Millwall to within two points of safety.

Luton, who welcomed back skipper Kevin Nicholls from a hamstring strain, got the first sight of goal when Steve Howard drove in a low shot that was comfortably gathered by Andy Marshall.

But it was Millwall who almost grabbed the early lead when Marlon Beresford failed to hold a thumping May free-kick.

Carl Asaba looked odds on to tuck away the rebound until Coyne foiled the striker with a superb last-ditch tackle.

Colin Cameron, making his debut following his loan move from Wolves, brought an assured touch to the Millwall midfield but their defence remained distinctly jittery and a mix-up between Zak Whitbread and Matt Lawrence offered Nicholls a shooting opportunity.

Fortunately for the Lions, the experienced midfielder skied his effort over the top.

Ryan Vine earned himself a needless booking on the half hour for pushing Lawrence to the floor, and moments later May fired the hosts ahead.

The striker, who will be 22 next week, neatly controlled a high ball on his chest, turned Luton defender Markus Heikkinen and fired low past Beresford from 12 yards for his third goal in as many games.

But Luton got themselves on level terms barely 60 seconds after the restart when Paul Underwood launched a free-kick into the Millwall area.

Coyne latched on to Howard's knock-down in a crowded goalmouth and smashed his third goal of the season past the helpless Marshall.

Howard then saw a shot saved and Carlos Edwards fired straight at Marshall as Luton went for the jugular.

But they were almost caught napping at the other end when Cameron meandered into the area, controlled the ball on his knee and blasted narrowly over the top.

Ahmet Brkovic thumped a shot against Marshall and wide from another goalmouth scramble before Edwards squandered a glorious chance to put Luton ahead, wastefully shooting the wrong side of the post with the goal at his mercy.

Millwall skipper Dave Livermore fired inches wide from the edge of the area before Brkovic headed straight at Marshall at the other end.

Referee Uriah Rennie was having an unusually quiet game until he decided to book Paul Robinson for time wasting, although the defender had to be substituted with the injury that had floored him.

As the final whistle approached, Coyne headed wide from a Vine corner before Williams grabbed the headlines, bursting between two static defenders and prodding the ball past Beresford to seal a dramatic win and condemn Luton to a 13th defeat on the road.

Teams:

Millwall Marshall, Lawrence, Paul Robinson (Dyer 82),Whitbread, Elliott, Dunne (Williams 72), Cameron (Cogan 72),Craig, Livermore, May, Asaba.

Subs Not Used: Doyle, Braniff.

Booked: May, Paul Robinson, Whitbread.

Goals: May 33, Williams 90.

Luton Beresford, Foley, Underwood, Heikkinen, Coyne, Edwards,Nicholls, Holmes (Morgan 86), Brkovic (Showunmi 86), Howard,Vine (Feeney 73).

Subs Not Used: Brill, Barnett.

Booked: Vine.

Goals: Coyne 47.

Att: 9,871

Ref: U Rennie (S Yorkshire).