MILLWALL boss Neil Harris accepts his side are going to be criticised after a difficult spell – but sees a good opportunity for his team to pick up points in two away games in five days.
The Lions took seven points from their opening three games, but just two from their last five.
They travel to bottom side Huddersfield Town this Saturday before Wednesday’s trip to Luton. Millwall play Leeds at home before the next international break.
“You start fantastically, you take the plaudits and appreciate them but then when you have a spell when you don’t play well you have to realise you’re going to be criticised. You have to bounce back,” Harris said.
“My frustration was clear after Middlesbrough and Hull, they’re games we should have won. Let’s get it right, we’ve played eight games, six of them against the top 11 in the league, so the fixtures haven’t been kind to us.
“That has to even out when we play Huddersfield and Luton, though they’re tough games. They’re teams that haven’t started well so it’s an opportunity for us to pick points up. I have to expect that from my team.
“We’d like to have picked up more points over the last four or five games, but we haven’t. The realism is if you don’t beat Hull at home when you’re on top and you don’t beat Boro when you create loads of chances, when you do go through a spell of games without a win then that puts the pressure back on.
“We work methodically, getting back to basics and doing what we do well, but we’ve tried to evolve slightly playing a little bit more football at times.
“We need to make sure everybody knows what their roles and responsibilities are, and we look forward to Huddersfield on Saturday.”
Harris played 3-5-2 last Saturday in the 2-1 defeat to QPR. Shaun Hutchinson scored Millwall’s goal but if Harris reverts to a four-man defence he will have a difficult decision to make.
Harris added: “I was really pleased for Hutch. He’s had to be patient to get a chance. He went to the back three to deal with QPR’s threat and he grew into the game.
“We’re very fortunate we’ve got three very good centre-halves and Murray [Wallace] has been a centre-half for the majority of his career and has done well for us at left-back. We feel we’re well-stocked in that area.
“Hutch is desperate to play. Pearcey [Alex Pearce] has led the squad fantastically well since he’s come in. He really dragged us along last season on the training pitch and in games.
“When you go to three centre-halves and they do well, it puts the manager under pressure as to who to play.”
Image: Millwall FC