Murray Wallace has said that Millwall must have the same mentality as teams fighting relegation in their top-six battle - with the Scottish defender admitting that his side have a "massive" opportunity to reach the play-offs.

The Lions' 3-0 victory at Nottingham Forest moved them just two points off sixth-placed Preston North End and Wallace, who has established himself as Millwall's first-choice left-back this season, starting 32 league matches, is dreaming of a shot at the Premier League.

Two years ago under Neil Harris, Millwall enjoyed a 17-match unbeaten run in the second half of the campaign, which took them from being possibly relegation candidates to on the cusp of the top-six - narrowly missing out, finishing in eighth-place.

"I remember that run they went on two seasons ago," the former Scunthorpe United man told the South London Press. "It was spoken about because they went on a mad winning streak. It was brilliant. And if we’re closer then maybe it gives us a better chance.

"It’s easy to go: 'I’ve got nine games left – let’s set a target of winning this amount’. But I feel like you can be distracted or take your eye off it a little if you start looking at how many games are remaining.

"You’ve got to have the same mentality as if you’re fighting for your life down the bottom. It’s a massive opportunity.

"Coming up against some of the teams around and about the bottom  at this stage can be harder than some of the teams at the top. Players are fighting to stay away from relegation. Sometimes it does take players or teams to get into that situation before the real fight in them comes out. It’s why they can be quite hard to play against."

The Verdict

The suspension due to the coronavirus could obviously prove a hindrance to Millwall's recent momentum, but if the campaign resumes without problems, then there's no reason the Lions can't continue where they left off prior to the break.

Gary Rowett's men have the best fixture list and know that with teams continuously slipping up around them, there is a major opportunity - something that Wallace was clearly keen to highlight.