Millwall boss talks about ‘calm’ approach to play-off run-in – and cites Derby situation as perfect example

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has talked about staying “calm” as the heat is turned up in the Championship play-off chase.

The Lions took one point over the Easter weekend. A largely cagey 0-0 draw in SE16 against Luton Town was followed up by a 1-0 loss to Hull City.

But Millwall created a lot of good scoring chances against the Tigers. Oliver Burke’s shot crashed down off the underside of the bar but did not cross the line. Home keeper Karl Darlow was also in defiant mood as he made a number of vital saves.

“I don’t mean this disrespectfully but you guys (the media) pinpoint how important Easter is,” said Rowett in his post-match press conference at Hull. “We just talk every game. I’d never say Easter is so much more important. I’ll always say we’ve got two games in three days – it’s no different to a Saturday-Tuesday. It’s no different to Preston and Birmingham (who Millwall play on Saturday and then Tuesday night). But as the games start to close in and draw down then of course every game feels more important, especially if you don’t win it.

“We know where we are at and what we’ve got to do.

“When I was manager at Derby we had six games left and we lost three on the spin – everybody was going absolutely apoplectic, I’m sure, on social media. But you have got to hold your nerve. We ended up winning two games, drawing one and finishing in the top six. You’ve got to be calm. I can’t blame the players, they’ve performed really, really well again.

“It’s just that last little bit of quality, for a team like ours, that your moments are going to hinge on. If we created nothing, I’d be disappointed. But we created quite a lot in the last three or four games and we need to start scoring goals.”