Millwall boss Gary Rowett namechecks Derby County in Championship play-off claim | OneFootball

Millwall boss Gary Rowett has claimed that reaching the Championship play-offs will be about finding a level of consistency and referenced his past experiences with both Derby County and Burton Albion.

The Lions edged a little closer to a top six finish by beating Swansea City on Tuesday evening and will hope to cement their place further by beating Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

Millwall have flirted with the play-offs under Rowett but this certainly looks like their best chance since his arrival in 2019.

The 49-year-old secured a top six finish with Derby in 2017/18 and made it to the play-off final during his time at Burton Albion so his experience could be vital in helping his side finally get over the line.

Asked whether he’d prefer to be the chaser or, as Millwall currently are, one of the teams in the top six, Rowett told Football League World: “I think I’d prefer to be in there with more points that the teams out of it. It’s pretty simple really, I think people that say ‘I’d like to be chasing. I’d like to be eighth or ninth now.’ I think they do that because that’s the only thing they can say when they’re in eighth or ninth.

“Everyone is trying their best to get in there. I’ve spoken about it before, there are lots of teams that are going to fight and get results. Someone’s going to win three or four in a row and try to push in there. Someone might not win many games and start dropping out and maybe get a bit edgy.

“I’ve been here before with Derby County, I’ve been here before with Burton Albion a few times. I think you’ve just got to keep focussing on what you’ve got to do.

“It’s not easy, you don’t know what’s going to happen but you’ve just got to keep showing a level of consistency. It’s boring but it has to be each game, it has to be each training session.

“How are you going to recover now? You don’t do your recovery properly and you turn up sore on Thursday, you’re not in the right position to play on Saturday. All those little things matter and I think that’s the important bit. It’s not about what the end goal looks like, it’s about making sure you take every step and do what you can. We have to do that because if we don’t we’ll fall short.”