Millwall 20/1 for Championship promotion – but boss Gary Rowett reckons those odds not right

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Millwall are 20/1 to get promotion to the Premier League – but boss Gary Rowett reckons those odds should be even longer.

The Lions are four points behind sixth-placed Preston North End and will look to close the gap tomorrow when they head to Wigan Athletic – with more than 700 supporters making the trip north.

But Rowett seems determined to keep his troops grounded.

“Within the club we have not spoken about where we’re going to finish and what we can achieve,” he said. “Our aim is to be a really good side, consistently perform well and keep trying to improve.

“Every now and again we win a game and one or two people get carried away – including one or two players – and it’s my job to bring them back down to earth, to retain that humility and keep working hard.

“I don’t think the odds are big enough – because ultimately we are an outsider. That’s our challenge, to keep getting results and see where it takes us. The fact we are in that mix, in that conversation, is a real positive. We’ve got to stay in the conversation as long as we can.”

Centre-back Shaun Hutchinson, who headed the winner at Preston last weekend, is a doubt for tomorrow’s fixture.

“Hutch picked up a knock in training on Wednesday so we’re hoping he’s okay,” said Rowett.

“We’ve got a couple of little niggles but the fact we’ve not had a game in midweek hopefully means they will have cleared up by the end of it.

“We’ve had some good news on Thommo [Ben Thompson] – his brace has come off and he can start running. It means he can get back out on the pitches but he is going to be a while yet.”

Mason Bennett did not feature for the U23s in their win over Crystal Palace but the Derby loanee could make the journey to Wigan.

“He has got through all of our work this week and looked really sharp and strong,” said Rowett. “So if he gets through Friday then he’ll travel up.

“I’ve always said I needed to get him in a position where he can at least try to impact a game, whether from the start or off the bench, a bit like Lenny [Ryan Leonard] has done to a certain degree.”

Millwall are looking for a fifth away win of the campaign – all since Rowett replaced Neil Harris as boss.

He said: “The challenge is can we have the mentality to go there and perform in the same way [as Preston], or do we think we’re a good side and come off it a little bit?

“It’s always a challenge retaining that mentality and making sure you get a good performance.”