SINCE winning promotion from League One in 2017, Millwall have continued to push the bar as high as they can.
Despite operating on a bottom-half budget with a small squad compared to the rest of the division, the Lions are rarely far away from the play-off places. With that, of course, comes increased expectations and the fear that Gary Rowett’s side could become a victim of their own success as they look to bridge the gap to the Premier League in the long-term.
The Millwall boss is keen not to shy away from this challenge, however, instead embracing it and encouraging his players to become a team that can challenge at the very top of the table.
“I said when we came in, the challenge wasn’t to be a team that was happy staying in the division,” he told NewsAtDen.
“It was to be a team that wanted to be at the top end of the division every season consistently and see where that takes us. I feel like we have an opportunity to do that as a club.
“Externally, the view is that we should be in the top six. I’m not sure that’s backed up by factual reasons but it shows what we’ve tried to achieve. To get to the point of two very strong seasons, and last year going down to Bournemouth with a chance to get in the play-offs, I think that’s a fantastic effort.
“Now what we want to do is to improve on that. We know it’s hard, we know we’re against teams that have far more right to be in the top six than us, but we’re going to fight in every game to see if we can keep winning.
“It sounds so cliché, but we don’t sit there looking at the next five, 10, 15, 20 games. The end of the season seems a million miles away. For us, it’s to get to the next international break and be in the same sort of position that we’re in now, that’s probably our aim and we’ll take it from there.”
Photo: Millwall FC