‘We need a clean sheet mentality’
EXCLUSIVE
BY YANN TEAR
yann@slpmedia.co.uk
Jake Cooper said the Lions cannot assume they will be potential play-off contenders again, just because recent league tables suggest they are.
The ever-pragmatic defender is in as good a position as anyone to assess how the club are developing and the strides they have made under Gary Rowett, having been at the club for five years since his initial loan move from Reading in January 2017.
But although he knows the signs are promising – with the club having finished, eighth, 11th and ninth since the flirtation with relegation in 2018 – he said the past counts for little, and that a tilt at the top six is something Millwall have to earn rather than take for granted.
“I don’t think in terms of previous years,” he told South London Press. “We start afresh each season, with new faces in the building.
“We know we are not a huge club compared to others in this division.
“We have to outperform teams who have a bigger budget and we have to pick up our away form.
“But the club have high ambitions. I’ve got a contract until the end of next season and I want to help us keep pushing forward and to be a part of that ambition this season.
“Our start to the season has shown how we can’t assume anything.
“It started so well against Stoke but we had a difficult week after that, losing players to injury and suspension and games – conceding the sort of goals that we don’t want to concede.
“It’s a good learning experience for us and we can improve.
“We have to adopt the clean sheet mentality to get a foothold in games and then create chances.
“It would have been nice to play a midweek game, after the loss at Bramall Lane, but it has given us a good chance to prepare for the Coventry game and iron out a few things on the training ground. We want to go full steam into that game.”
Cooper added: “It’s quite a testing month for us. We’ve got to go to some big clubs and be able to perform. It will be a good test for us and I’m looking forward to that.”
Picture by Brian Tonks: Jake Cooper for Millwall against Sheffield United
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