BENIK Afobe knows few outside Millwall expect the players to finish in the play-offs – but the forward insists the Lions have the players to do it.
Afobe is one of a number of the squad who has experienced the pressure of a top-six challenge.
Shaun Hutchinson, Jake Cooper and Jed Wallace were in the Millwall squad that won the League One play-off final in 2017.
Afobe (Huddersfield Town), Daniel Ballard (Blackpool), Mason Bennett (Derby County) and Ryan Leonard (Southend United) have also played in play-off finals.
Bartosz Bialkowski (Ipswich Town), George Long (Sheffield United), Scott Malone (Fulham and Derby County), George Evans (Derby), Murray Wallace (Scunthorpe), Alex Pearce (Reading) and Luke Freeman (Stevenage) helped their clubs into the play-offs.
Millwall are four points off sixth with seven games left. Gary Rowett’s side host Swansea City at The Den on Tuesday night.
But whereas the Welsh side were expected to challenge for the top six or even top two this season, Millwall were outsiders to reach the second-tier play-offs for the first time in 20 years.
They still are, but Afobe believes they have shown they have the quality to claim a place.
“No one [outside the club] is expecting us to finish in the top six,” Afobe said. “But we’ve got the players. We beat Sheffield United, we beat Huddersfield, we beat QPR, all these teams that are fighting for the play-offs.
“We can go toe-to-toe with them. On our day we believe that we can beat anyone in the league. It’s just about having that consistency in the last few games.”
Millwall’s last four home games are against teams currently below them in the league. The Lions are unbeaten in seven league games at The Den and have lost just one of their last 12 in the Championship in their own backyard.
But boss Rowett knows that is no guarantee of anything.
“Our home form has been excellent, the atmospheres and performances have been good,” Rowett said. “And the results have been really good.
“I think we’re pretty much up there in terms of home form. Certainly everyone externally will look at the fixtures and the types of games that we’ve got. But internally we understand that some of those games are as much of a challenge for us [as facing the top sides].”
Image: Millwall FC