‘Huge weekend’ – Millwall boss Harris sees Easter fixtures as ‘avenue’ to widen gap on Championship relegation zone

Neil Harris has described Millwall’s Easter fixtures as “huge” as the South London club look to pull further clear of Championship relegation danger.

The Lions are four points above the bottom three and face West Bromwich Albion tomorrow at The Den before heading to Rotherham, rock bottom of the standings, on Monday.

Harris had taken 10 points from a possible 12 after returning to Millwall as head coach but tasted defeat for the first time in the 2-0 reverse at Leeds, the last action before the international break.

“It is always a pivotal period in the fixture calendar – Christmas and Easter,” Harris told the South London Press. “There are eight games left and it is stating the obvious that a quarter of the games disappear in a four-day period. It is a huge weekend.

“We have earned the right to get ourselves in a healthier position in the league standings and points total – but we know there is still a lot of work to go still.

“I see this weekend as an avenue for us to try and add to our total and widen that gap between us and the teams below. But the games are never easy. West Brom will bring a real challenge and are a quality opponent. Rotherham away from home are a team that are scrapping and fighting not to be relegated yet. They are two very different games in their own right but we hugely look forward to both.

“It seems like it has been ages since we have been at The Den, since we could celebrate that last-minute winner against Birmingham. I’ve been back nearly five weeks at the weekend and I’ve only played two home games – very unfortunate that the fixtures fall with more away games than home games for me.

“I think it is eight (away) and five (home) from my tenure. I love playing at The Den and being in a home environment. But I knew that when I took over. We certainly have to make sure we make the most of our home performances.”

Millwall are hunting a third straight Den win with Harris presiding over 1-0 victories against Watford and Birmingham City.

“The league position and the run of form we found ourselves in when I came back on February 22 – we knew home and away form was going to be vitally important,” said Harris.

“Winning at Southampton was a huge bonus and gave us our first away victory under me, but we knew, just as importantly if not more so, the home win against Watford was probably a bigger benchmark because we hadn’t won at The Den for such a long time – the football club and fanbase craves home success. Six points from two home games, in isolation, is a fantastic achievement.

“We want to add to that total. We want to get back to winning ways but also the team being really disciplined, aggressive and tough to play against. If we are that and keep adding little moments of quality to our game then we’re a handful for any opponent.

“Our gameplan is not going to change, with that, between now and the end of the season.”