MILLWALL face the only team in the top four leagues in England with a longer unbeaten run than them on Friday, but Neil Harris insisted they won’t be “overawed”.
Fulham can boast Aleksandar Mitrovic – whom Newcastle spent £13million on – and Championship Player of the Season Ryan Sessegnon in their line-up, and Harris acknowledges it is likely to be an even tougher test than the one Sheffield United provided last Saturday.
But Millwall believe they have only been outplayed properly once this season, at Wolves, and Harris insisted they won’t be “fazed” by the threat posed by the Cottagers.
Millwall were unlucky to lose 1-0 at Craven Cottage last November when Harris felt Rui Fonte “conned” the referee when he went down under light contact from Conor McLaughlin and Oliver Norwood scored from the penalty spot.
Millwall are bidding to maintain their place in the top six, while Fulham are aiming for second spot.
“At this stage of the season, the form the two sides are in and what it means to both teams shows the enormity of the clash, there’s no getting away from it,” Harris said.
“The Fulham camp will be a really good place, I’d imagine, because of the run they’re on. They’ve got themselves into a position where they will want to finish in that top two now. They’ll be under pressure to get a win at our place to get ahead of Cardiff. And we want to win for a different reason.
“We’re going to attack the game as we have been doing recently and just enjoy it. There is no doubt that Fulham have got really good individual players and they are a good team.
“It’s going to be the toughest game we’ve had in a long time. Sheffield United were excellent against us, Brentford were excellent against us. This is going to be even tougher than them and we are going to have to be at our best.
“But I also know Fulham are in for a very difficult game against us.
“It’s a big test because Fulham are on a great run and they are a very, very good side. We’ve had really difficult tests all season. The opening game of the season [against Nottingham Forest] was a really tough test because it was our first game back at this level.
“We played Wolves home and away, the best team in the league; Cardiff home and away and we stood strong against these sides. We’ve been in every game. We lost 3-0 at Derby but probably could have got something out of the game, we were the best team for the majority of it.
“We’re not overawed by anybody and when teams have got most of the ball against us we’re not fazed at all. We went behind in a very hostile atmosphere last Saturday and scored within 30 seconds of the restart. I think that goes to show the belief, the character and the strength in the group at the moment.
“We’ll certainly need all of that on Friday night. What a great opportunity for the players to go and express themselves and enjoy it.”
Image: Millwall FC