Millwall defender Alex Pearce has delivered an important message to the club's fans after the weekend's FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Brighton.

The Lions exited the cup in dramatic fashion at The Den on Sunday, losing on penalties after surrendering a two-goal lead late on.

Now they are out of the cup, the players must return their attention to the Championship relegation battle and the nine remaining matches that look set to define the club's season after the international break.

After the weekend's results, Neil Harris' side are currently 20th in the league table, just one point above the drop zone, but they do now have a crucial game in hand on their relegation rivals.

Pearce, who scored his first Lions goal at the weekend, has called for the supporters to play their part by reproducing the type of atmosphere they created at The Den on Sunday for the five remaining home matches.

"If there’s ever a game and a display to give us confidence for the next nine in the League, it’s this one," said Pearce, as quoted by the club's official website.

"With the crowd creating an atmosphere like they did today, as players it really gives us an extra lift.

“It’s phenomenal to play in when the supporters are like that, and you can see it affects the team. You can see what it means to them, and it can work as a disadvantage to the visiting side.

“We’ve got nine big games left – five of them here at The Den – so we need to make this place a fortress and really dig in until the end of the season.”

The verdict

Pearce is absolutely right. The players must now somehow find a way to put the weekend's disappointment behind them and refocus their attention on their fight for Championship survival.

Millwall's home form in the league has not been good enough since the turn of the year and they are without a win in their last five Championship matches at The Den.

With five out of their remaining nine games matches coming at home, this has to improve if they are to stand any chance avoiding the drop and the supporters certainly have a big role to play.

The Lions fans created a great atmosphere at The Den during the FA Cup quarter-final and it was obvious to see the positive affect this had on the players.

If the fans can reproduce this kind of atmosphere for the remaining five home games, Millwall stand a good chance of surviving the drop this season.