Millwall find themselves in the midst of a Championship relegation battle as the season nears the halfway mark.

Neil Harris’ men are 14 points worse off than they were at this stage last year and have been in and out of the bottom three for most of the campaign.

The Lions are currently one place and one point above the League One trapdoor heading into this weekend’s trip to Deepdale to take on Preston North End.

Jordan Archer has recently been able to find a way back into the team ahead of teammate Ben Amos who had been the leading man between the sticks since the end of August.

The Scotland international has had a watching brief for almost two months before returning against Bolton two weeks ago.

And having seen how Millwall have played, the Lions stopper feels his side will be more than fine this season despite their current league position.

In an interview with NewsAtDen, Archer detailed why he feels his side will avoid a drop back to League One after two seasons in the second tier.

“We have one of the smallest squads in the league,’ Archer said. “Other clubs have massive budgets but what they can’t buy is the chemistry that we have.

“The gaffer brings in players that have to have strength of character. That shows at times like this when we are being stripped to the bare minimum with injuries.

“I thought the boys did well last season and we’ll equip ourselves well again.

“We’ve shown that we can match any team in this division. But in a game of football sometimes things don’t go your way. That’s what we’ve found has happened this season.

“But we’re not going to dwell too much on that. There have only been a couple of games – Sheffield United and Birmingham at home – that teams have come and dominated us.

“We’ve been very, very unlucky, we’ve conceded a lot of late goals, and we’ve got injuries on top of that.

“But we’ve got more than enough quality in this squad going into the second half of the season. This Christmas period coming up is crucial.”

The verdict

It’s positive of Jordan Archer to feel his side have enough to stay in the division.

The goalkeeper can see the whole game in front of him and has the perfect view as to how his side are playing, add to that his extended stint on the sidelines as the backup to Ben Amos, he has had plenty of time to review his teammates.

And he isn’t wrong – Millwall have matched many a team this season including leaders Norwich before their last-gasp defeat and have lead Leeds for the majority of their match before a late equaliser.

There have been moments for the Lions to enjoy this term but it has been fragile defending at times that has continuously let them down.

If they can remedy that problem, then there is no reason why Archer can’t be proven right and be a part of the team that remains in the Championship.