MILLWALL are one point ahead of where they were in the Championship last season after the same number of games – despite a whopping 19 injuries this term.
The Lions have dragged themselves back into contention for a top-six challenge after three wins and a draw in their last five games, giving them 43 points.
There are seven teams between Millwall and the play-off positions and also seven teams between them and the relegation zone. The Lions are just are six points off Middlesbrough in sixth but 22 points above Peterborough in 22nd, which shows how competitive the top half of the Championship is this season.
In Gary Rowett’s first season in charge, Millwall had 45 points after 31 games and were in contention for the play-offs with two games left.
Millwall go in search of a third consecutive win for the first time this season when they face Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Saturday.
“People talk about West Brom being candidates for promotion and I think we’re three points behind them, level on points with Stoke,” Lions boss Rowett said.
“With the points that we’ve got I think normally you’d be sat in probably ninth or 10th in the league. But the league this season seems to be a little bit more weighted from around three-quarters up, everyone’s pretty competitive and the ones down the bottom haven’t got as many points.
“It’s a really difficult league to gauge.
“There’s no way round it, we’ve had a lot more injuries than we normally would to key players and it’s probably been the toughest season to prepare for games because every game it’s, ‘we’re going to be without him, we’re going to be without him’.
“There were a couple after the game Tuesday that have come in [Thursday morning] and we have to be careful with them.
“It’s been a big challenge but you’ve got to try to embrace the challenges and see if we can get results.
“I’m not displeased with certainly the way we’ve played recently.”
Burke is the 19th Millwall player to get injured this campaign. That's the entire squad of outfield players expect Kieftenbeld and Mitchell.
— Jake Sanders (@JakeSanders92) February 15, 2022
Image: Millwall FC