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Breaking News: NEIL Harris Speaks Volumes Of Comeback And Makes A Jaw Dropping Vow…
NEIL Harris says Millwall can have a say in the promotion chase as he bids to lead the club into the Championship’s top ten.
The Lions had been regular finishers in the top half until last season’s unexpected relegation struggle, a fate which Harris successfully helped the club avoid by guiding them to safety following his reappointment in February.
Harris would love to see Millwall punch above their weight again by being involved in a play-off push, something which could well be determined by what transfer business takes place between now and the end of August.
“I hope so,” the manager replied when asked if the Lions will feature at the right end of the table.
“It’s twofold. Firstly, we finished last season brilliantly and ended up with five wins in a row and eight from 13 to propel us into a comfortable 13th place finish in the end.
“Of course we want to better that but then you can’t hide from the fact that the current squad obviously found it difficult for the vast part of the season before I arrived.
“We can’t lose sight of the importance of a transfer window and that we can continue to add to the group because ultimately we are largely a similar group to the one last year, barring a few outfield signings.
“We’ve also lost a few as well who were here on loan so we’ve still got some work to do in that sense.
What I’ve seen in pre-season is there is a doggedness about us, there is a real togetherness and spirit about us.
“There is culture at Calmont Road that we’ve created already which is going to be important for us to have success.
“We are just going to try to add a bit more quality to the group to make it a little bit more rounded.”
Harris accepts there are going to be plenty of much more likely contenders up there in the automatic spots, but staying competitive with the chasing pack is still possible.
The manager explained: “You always look at the teams who have come down and then Leeds who didn’t go up and expect those sides to be front runners.
“Then you look at the teams who have been in the Premier League in the past decade and expect them to do well because financially they’ve had the backing over the last five years in particular where they’ve gone out and spent quite a lot of money to bring in players.
“Last year we sort of expected the three relegated teams to make the running and they did. Leicester and Southampton both got promoted whereas Leeds just missed out.
“This year I expect the relegated teams and Leeds to lead the way for the majority of it, but then there will be an opportunity for other teams to break in.
“It will be quite open for the next five or six teams fighting for the play-off spaces and a top ten finish.”
