Shaun Williams: I know Millwall WILL win play-offs if we secure Championship top-six finish
Shaun Williams reckons Millwall have every right to believe they are destined for the play-offs – as their remarkable 2018 resurgence shows no signs of dropping off.
Good Friday’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, mixed with poor results for the other sides chasing to get into the top six along with defeats for Middlesbrough and Derby, have left the Lions just a point behind the play-off places.
And Williams points to other sides who have enjoyed back-to-back promotions as a reason to hope Neil Harris’ side can do the same.
“Yeah, we do [believe]. The reality of it is we can actually make the play-offs, it’s definitely something we can focus on.
“Nobody expected us to be here, everybody expected us to be fighting relegation – so we have the freedom and don’t have the pressure. It is working in our favour at the moment.”
“Teams invest heavily in their squad to make the play-offs, while we are trying to stay in this division. Maybe we can get out of it the other way, rather than heading down.
“If we make the play-offs, we will go up. If we’re at home first leg – we had that Friday [a gate of over 16,000]. A full house, I don’t see why not. It’s only in our favour at the moment. Everyone else is playing with pressure, we don’t.”
Williams has echoed the sentiments of other Millwall players, who have expressed surprise that Harris’ work with the Den outfit has not attracted interest from elsewhere.
It has been done on a budget that is in the bottom four of the Championship.
“He’s been unbelievable. In two-and-a-half years managing he’s had two play-offs, quarter-final of the FA Cup and now he can potentially have a team who are in the [Championship] play-offs.
“I don’t see why he hasn’t been touted for other jobs. Hopefully he can stay here and get the club as high as it can.
“There have been plenty of teams who have got back-to-back promotions – Norwich and Southampton. I don’t think a lot of people would be happy if we got to the Premier League, but everyone out there will be buzzing.
“You know yourself [when asked why people wouldn’t be happy].”
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