SHAUN Williams insisted he won’t be feeling any extra pressure on the final day of the League One season next Sunday.
Millwall have to beat Bristol Rovers at The Memorial Stadium to guarantee a top-six finish and a place in the play-offs the following week.
The Lions lost 3-0 at home to Oxford United on Saturday, but Southend’s defeat at Shrewsbury and Rochdale’s draw with Oldham kept Neil Harris’ side in pole position for a second successive tilt at promotion through the play-offs.
In Williams’ first season with Millwall, Ian Holloway’s side had to beat AFC Bournemouth on the final day to guarantee Championship survival. They didn’t let the pressure affect them as they won 1-0 at The Den.
Millwall would have secured a play-off place had they beaten Oxford, but Williams is relieved they still control their own destiny.
“It wasn’t our day,” he said. “Last week against Fleetwood we gave them everything we had but couldn’t score, it was unfortunate.
“This was disappointing but then again it’s still all in our hands. We’re in a good position.
“Everyone was the same as normal and we began the game quite well but got hit with two early goals. It was an uphill battle from there.
“We’re probably a team that needs to take the lead first because we’re not the best at breaking teams down. We’ll move on from it.
“It’s a do-or-die situation now, the only thing that needs to be done is we have to win.
“We didn’t start the season too well, had a bad run but picked up this year. We’ve pushed ourselves into a good position.
“I don’t feel much pressure at all. I don’t change the way I play, win, lose or draw.”
Aiden O’Brien had a chance to halve the deficit in the second half on Saturday but saw his shot saved by Simon Eastwood.
Williams insisted it’s about collective responsibility as he looked forward to potentially another game at The Den this season.
“You can’t put it all down to him,” he said. “It’s a team game and we don’t pick out one person when we lose, it’s all our faults. We have to stick together until the end.
“You can’t look too much into it because it might start to affect people and bring a different mood into the camp. We have to just move on from it and put all our focus into next Sunday.
“Our home form has been fantastic over the last number of months. [Saturday] is a bit of a blip but the fans can be a 12th man for us.”
Image: Millwall FC