Lee Clark has urged his Birmingham City players to believe in themselves at Millwall on Tuesday night (7.45pm).
It’s a big match at the Den for a number of reasons.
The sides are level on 12 points in the lower reaches of the Championship.
Millwall will want revenge for Blues' incredible 6-0 win there last season.
And Papa Bouba Diop could make his debut for Blues as manager Clark confirmed he will definitely be in the 18 on duty in south London.
“They are a big, strong team,” said Clark. “Kenny Jackett’s teams always play with a lot of passion, a lot of drive. Their supporters demand that.
“So we certainly have to be competitive against them.
“And then after competing, and matching what they do, we have to play our type of game as well.
“I am optimistic because I saw on Saturday a lot of belief about the players, I hope they take that on board and take it into the game.
“I got everything I asked for in terms of the performance against Leicester City. We just didn’t deliver the three points unfortunately. But there were lots of positives to take from the game.”
In January, Millwall had Shane Lowry (22 minutes) and Alan Dunne (57) sent-off for bad tackles on Nikola Zigic with Blues 1-0 up.
Millwall had actually started the game very well, but Zigic - who is suspended for this match - got under their skin and the Den boiled over as Blues ended up romping it.
Clark said: “Listen, it doesn’t matter what the history is, when you go to Millwall you know you are in for a tough game.
“You know you’re in for an intimidating atmosphere, you know it’s going to be competitive and if you are not doing the ugly side of the game you will get run into the ground.”
Diop, a free agent who has signed a month’s contract, comes into the frame as Blues will be without the suspended Jonathan Spector, who was dismissed for two yellow cards against Leicester.
Academy product Callum Reilly, 18, travels too. The versatile midfielder has been given squad number 33.
About Diop, Clark said: “He will be in the 18.
“Whether I gamble and put him in the starting eleven, because of the lack of match situation, me not having an example of where he’s at in a match situation because I couldn’t play him in the development game last week, that’s something I have got to think about.”
“Bouba is a good guy,” Clark added. “He is very, very experienced. He quickly settled in when he came to us at Fulham. We were his first English club and he settled into the group very, very quickly.
“And his performances were exceptional.
“He is a physical presence, he is competitive, but we would be doing him a disservice if we didn’t mention his ability because he is a talented footballer as well.”
Morgaro Gomis is another injury casualty for Blues.
Clark revealed that he ‘flagged up’ a thigh problem before Blues development match against Derby County last Tuesday.
Reilly made his Blues debut as a substitute in the FA Cup at Sheffield United in January. He can play in central midfield, our out wide.
“Whether he’s part of the 18 remains to be seen, but it’s a boost to him that he’s travelling with the squad,” said the manager.
“Obviously young Mitchell Hancox is in there and Will Packwood. That’s one of the shining lights for me this season in terms of getting these lads from the Academy and giving them their full league debuts etcetera.
“With the exception of the front two on Saturday, we had a very young team out there.
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“Even though there have been one or two issues this season that’s been a big positive for the club because it means that we’ve got good quality [young] players, which is my aim anyway.
“I want a young vibrant squad. Whether you go out and get them - which we know in our situation sometimes is difficult - or you produce your own, which is ideal. That’s good for me.”
