Neil Harris: Millwall in healthier position then when I took over – we can’t let Rotherham loss derail us

Millwall head coach Neil Harris says his players must not dwell on today’s defeat at Rotherham United ahead of their final six games of the season.

The Lions were beaten 2-1 by the Millers, who won for just the fourth time this season.

Millwall have moved four points clear of the bottom three since the return of the Lions’ all-time record goalscorer and they could extend that gap to seven points on Saturday when they visit another of the sides in the drop zone, Huddersfield Town.

Millwall did not concede much ground to the sides in the bottom three despite losing in South Yorkshire with Sheffield Wednesday beaten and Huddersfield drawing with Stoke.

The result leaves Harris’ side 19th in the table with six games to play.

“What today’s result and the league table shows is that every point is vital,” said Harris. “Another point today would have been a positive day.

“We must understand where we are and understand that we have to keep an eye on what other teams are doing. However we have to focus on what we are doing and what we can control – that’s our performances.

“Today’s performance deserved a lot more than a defeat but we are in a much healthier position than we were six games ago after Southampton away when we were on level points with the teams below us.

“We are in a lot healthier position – we must remember that and take confidence and belief from that. What we can’t do is let today derail all the good work that we have done – that’s going to be my message to the players tomorrow at the training ground and that’s going to be my positivity and my attitude going forward.

“What we have done until today has been excellent. We have built a togetherness and an idea of how we want to play and how we are going to achieve our goals between now and May 4. Today is a disappointing result and is a huge frustration for us and I’m angry because we’ve absolutely thrown it away.

“If a team does enough to beat you because they outplay you, that’s football. Today we threw it away. That’s my frustration when I look at the group, as individuals, they’ve been great for me but as a group did we have the mentality to win the game for the football club? I’m not sure we did.”