MILLWALL assistant boss Dave Livermore has warned the squad not to start thinking about the play-offs just yet.
After last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Gillingham, the Lions know four wins from their last four games will secure a top-six finish.
Millwall are a point ahead of Southend in seventh, and could still finish third or fourth, which would guarantee a home tie in the second leg of a play-off semi-final.
But Livermore is solely focused on the clash with Northampton at The Den on Friday.
“It’s a good position for us, it’s in our hands, we’ve always thought we have to look after our own results,” Livermore said. “There are going to be a lot of twists and turns. If we start to think we’re in the play-offs that’s when we could start to come unstuck.
“It’s important that we keep that mental approach that there’s still a lot of work to be done.
“At the moment we’ll take a play-off position, regardless of whether that’s home or away first leg. The thought process is gaining three points against Northampton and seeing where that leaves us.”
Livermore believes the run-in this year presents a bigger challenge than last season, with Northampton still fighting to avoid relegation, and Fleetwood, Oxford and Bristol Rovers all vying for promotion.
Livermore also feels teams have worked harder to combat Millwall’s strengths in this campaign.
“There are a lot of good managers and a lot of teams that are adaptable and play different shapes,” Livermore said.
“We’ve seen a lot of teams this season that have played five at the back, certainly against us at The Den, teams further down the table.
“That’s been a challenge for us, how we break it down, which we haven’t always been able to do this season. So we’ve needed to look at different ways of being creative.
“The fixture programme fell quite nicely for us towards the back end of last season. We played a lot of teams around the middle of the table who couldn’t get promoted or relegated.
“We’re fairly happy with where we are, even though we’re a little bit behind where we were last year.”
Image: Millwall FC