MILLWALL forward Tom Bradshaw is targeting reaching double-figures for goals this season in the last two games – which could put him in the frame for a call-up for Wales.
Bradshaw has scored nine times this season, all of them in his last 18 appearances.
At one point this season, Bradshaw, 29, was second only to Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic for goals-per-minutes. Mitrovic has scored 41 goals in 41 games for his club this season and broke the Championship record.
Bradshaw is currently seventh on the list across the whole season with a goal every 142 minutes.
If Bradshaw scores against Peterborough United or AFC Bournemouth he would join team-mate Benik Afobe in reaching 10 or more goals in the campaign.
It’s something that he is thinking about and a tally he would be proud of.
“Yeah, definitely, especially considering the lack of games I’ve played this year, to get to double-figures would be a real milestone,” Bradshaw said. “It’s one I really want to achieve going into the last two games.
“I want us to pick up six points in the next two games and ideally I would pick up at least one goal. It’s something that I’m going into confidently and I’m excited for.
“I was sent a stat about two or three days ago about goals-to-minutes ratio. It was the second-highest behind Mitrovic in the league. I think at the time it was a goal every 133 minutes, which I was really happy about.
“I’ve been a little bit unlucky with injuries but the games I have played I’ve really enjoyed and felt confident.
“In football it’s one of those things where it seems to have fallen into place this year, whether that’s playing up front with Benik or just having that self-belief. I’ve taken the pressure off myself and just enjoyed my football and it seems to have really worked.”
Millwall need to win their last two games, score a hatful of goals and hope other results go their way to finish in the play-offs.
Bradshaw – who was speaking to NewsAtDen before Middlesbrough and Sheffield United won their games this week – described the mood in the squad as they try to keep their top-six chances going to the last day.
“All the way throughout the season it’s been us chasing, which is good in a way,” Bradshaw said. “Obviously you’d rather be in the play-off places but we’ve had no pressure on us all season.
“I went to training [Tuesday] morning and it was just a really relaxed atmosphere. No one seems tense or wound up or anything. It’s very relaxed and that’s exactly the energy we need going into the last two games where ultimately it’s not in our hands.
“We haven’t pressure on us so we’ll just do what we do and try to pick up the three points against Peterborough and see where we are then.
“That’s all we can do and then hope things go our way elsewhere.”
Millwall were 11 points adrift of the play-offs when they lost 1-0 to Blackpool in January. Soon after that the Lions won five games in a row.
“It’s a strange division. Football is in general and it’s really hard to put your finger on why you’re in good runs of form and what you’ve done differently as opposed to when you were in a bad run of form,” Bradshaw said.
“I think it’s just confidence. We’ve obviously had a much stronger second half of the season which is quite common with Millwall, after Christmas we generally perform better.
“We’ve done brilliantly this year to close that gap to be serious contenders. We’re not there through favours or necessarily luck, we’re there because we’ve earned the points and we deserve to be there.
“We’ll be taking that confidence into the last two games and fingers crossed we can get a little bit of luck in the other games elsewhere.”
Millwall’s position is even more remarkable considering every outfield player has been unavailable at some time in the season through injury or after positive Covid-19 test results.
Bradshaw said: “That’s a real feather in our cap. At one point this season we had nine or 10 players unavailable. Then we went on a run of winning five games. That showed the character we’ve got throughout the dressing room and the belief that we’ve got as a team. We had that depth that other players were able to step up and perform.
“We’ve done ourselves proud this year and there’s no doubt that we can go and pick up six points in the next two games and be in the mix for the play-offs.”
Bradshaw has played three times for Wales and won his last cap in 2016. Wales will face either Scotland or Ukraine in their play-off final in June for a place in Qatar.
Bradshaw was in the provisional squad for Euro 2016 but a calf injury ended his chances of going to the tournament.
Shrewsbury-born Bradshaw knows it’s a long shot, but he hasn’t given up hope of a call from Wales caretaker boss Rob Page.
“There were a few grumblings [about a potential call-up] before I got injured [in January], a few messages here and there,” Bradshaw said. “But I haven’t heard anything solid for a little while.
“Obviously it’s still a big passion of mine to play for my country. All I can do is keep trying to play well and score goals for Millwall and see where that takes me.
“It’s been a little while since I was in the last camp. I’d like to think that scoring goals in the top half of the Championship and competing for the play-offs would mean there’s a chance.
“But I can’t really comment on it [not hearing anything from the Wales management]. I don’t know, to be honest. Like I say, all I can do is keeping playing well and scoring goals and hopefully the call will come.”
Image: Millwall FC