Millwall boss on four of next five matches being at home – as Derby, Plymouth, Burnley and Leeds all visit

“We feel Sheffield Wednesday and Preston were convincing home wins and then the other two were results we certainly didn’t deserve to lose – that’s for sure.“The Den is vital for us.

“It’s a big advantage for us playing at home for four of the next six and we need to capitalise on that. We have to impose ourselves on the game and involve the crowd, so that they are with us so that, in unison, we dominate the opponent.

“Gaining our first away victory will be vital for gaining confidence in the group but ultimately over the next three weeks we have got to focus on our home form.

“Derby is going to be a tough challenge. They have been exceptional to pick up 12 points at home. They haven’t picked up a point yet on the road and we’ve got to make sure it isuncomfortable for them.

“Once we have dealt with that one then we can look at Plymouth, look at Burnley, then look at Leeds and so on.

“It is going to be four well-backed teams that is going to lead to really good atmospheres at the stadium.”

Millwall had a number of their squad away on international duty with Mihailo Ivanovic and George Saville unused subs for Serbia and Northern Ireland on Tuesday.

Romain Esse was a late substitute as England’s Elite team won 3-0 against the Czech Republic on Monday in Doncaster. Daniel Kelly, signed from Celtic in the last transfer window, started for Scotland U21s in their 2-1 loss at Kazakhstan as they failed to qualify for the UEFA Championships. Aidomo Emakhu was subbed on in Republic of Ireland U21s’ 1-1 draw at Italy.

Asked if the international break came at the right time for Millwall – with a number of first-teamers sidelined due to injury – Harris said: “You can debate until the cows come home but it is irrelevant – we can’t control when the breaks come.

“What it has enabled us to do with a larger than we’d like injury list is give them a couple of free weeks to get closer to fitness.

“Yes, some are still going to miss the next five or six games but that could’ve been seven or eight games.

“It helps the healing process.

“It will only become a positive or negative when we get through next week and see what results we have picked up. Romain has come through the England camp well, but we still have had players away involved in matches in midweek.

“So until we see their condition on Thursday morning, we don’t know if it will have fallen well for us or not.”