Millwall learning that success brings pressure &#8211; and how to handle it

I cannot imagine it is easy for players with 20-30,000 people reacting to your every move.

Every slight mistake or misstep brings groans and moans, or worse, having the piss taken out of you by a lagered-up away end.

Not something I would like to face at the office. Grammatical mistake or typo? "You don't know what you're doing..."

Of course, there are financial stakes attached as well. £100 million could be decided by one action, one mistake, one mental lapse.

It takes a certain type of character to survive and even thrive in those moments.

By and large, Millwall have stood up and shown they can handle those moments. The late comebacks, the gutsy away wins, the backs-to-the-wall defending to hold onto leads.

But there have been times when they have felt that pressure, as Alex Neil has alluded to in recent press conferences.

His thoughts after Norwich on Monday: "Playing out from the back, I don't know if it was nervousness or just maybe a lack of quality or whatever it was, we didn't move the ball well enough. Norwich were better."

And Middlesbrough: "We've got a lot of younger players, and even some of the older players, who would never have played in a game of this magnitude with what's riding on it. The atmosphere was electric at the start of the game, and all credit to Middlesbrough for creating that sort of atmosphere. Our fans were in brilliant voice in the far corner.

"This was a big boys game, in terms of you need to have some minerals to go out there and play in that and keep the ball under pressure and all that sort of stuff. We probably lacked that a little bit in the first half, but we certainly showed it in the second half."

And to really belabour the point, Ipswich Town:

"At half-time, when we were 1-0 down, the topic of conversation was - we haven't got anything to lose. Get after the game, go and show what we can do, and I didn't really think that we played the first half with that lack of fear, if that makes any sense."

Many of the squad have not played in games with stakes as high as these before. Zak Sturge predominantly played under-21s football last season before joining the Lions in February, Caleb Taylor was playing in League One (he did start in two play-off games, of course), Camiel Neghli was injured during the run-in. Even those who were here last season and were helping to push for the play-offs - Josh Coburn, Mihailo Ivanovic, Femi Azeez, Tristan Crama, Macaulay Langstaff - have only done it at this level once, and were chasers rather than being chased

They have never quite felt the pressure and expectations of being seen as one of the best in the league, and having to defend your status, week in, week out.

The approach has changed under Neil. Maybe Millwall of the past, even last season, would set up more pragmatically. Now they look to win every game and take it to their opponents. That is the attitude of a top side, but it does add a certain level of pressure.

There are players more used to the pressure-cooker. Jake Cooper has a few play-off chasing campaigns under his belt, Casper De Norre played at Anfield, Barry Bannan is the most experienced player in the Championship and Anthony Patterson and Tommy Watson were part of the Sunderland team that went up via Wembley last year.

In those high-pressure environments, does Neil want to lean on those players?

"Everybody needs to play their part," Neil told NewsAtDen . "I don't think you can put the onus on any one person.

"But the simple fact is the only way you gain experience in these type of situations is by actually putting yourself out there and being part of that. I think it's a great experience for a lot of our players, whether they've been there and done it or whether they haven't. Because if we want to try and compete as a club and as a team, you need to be able to compete and be part of those games.

"What we need to remember, this is the same team that went to Wrexham and won. The same team that went to Hull City and won. The same team that beat Derby County. The same team that beat Middlesbrough. The same team that went to Ipswich Town and got a point.

"So for anybody to suggest we're not up to it or anything like that, I can't disagree with that any more. The fact is that this team has produced so many good and strong moments for us. We've had one blip, one setback, where we didn't get what we wanted. But when people talk about sticking together, this is what it's about. It's sticking together in these moments where we've had a disappointing result. We need to go again now."