GARY Rowett revealed that he set out to change Millwall’s mentality when he first joined the club back in 2019.
The manager moved to The Den when the Lions were sat in 16th place, having narrowly avoided relegation to League One the season before.
He admitted that Millwall were too focused on looking below them in the table, devising a plan to turn them into one of the better teams in the Championship in order to challenge at the top end of the division.
They have narrowly missed out on the play-offs for the last three seasons since his appointment, but supporters are no longer surprised to see them fighting for promotion to the Premier League.
It sets them up to finally bridge the gap to the top six, and their mindset will undoubtedly play a big part if they are to do so this season.
“The feel here is quite similar, the attitude, hard-working nature, underdog mentality and tough fighting spirit, all the things you’d expect,” he told The Sun.
“What we’ve tried to change is what we can now achieve.
“There’ve been players, managers here who have done great things, FA Cup finals, been in the old Division One, it’s not for me to comment on that.
“But when I came in, there was a little bit of a ‘staying up is great’ feel. A lot of staff would say ‘five points off the bottom three now’ or ‘it’s eight points now’.
“But I wanted to change that. Stop looking down, look up. I felt like we could do it, take the club forward on and off the field.”
Photo: Millwall FC