Japhet Tanganga names big Millwall 'ambition' and sends 'tough' Burnley warning

Japhet Tanganga says he and his Millwall teammates have their eyes firmly set on a playoff run this season having put together a strong start. The Lions were not exactly quick out of the blocks, but they have now climbed up to 10th in the table, just three points off the top six after back-to-back wins.

With just two goals conceded in their last five games, the back-line has been key to Millwall’s success over the last few weeks, and Tanganga has played a central role, signing permanently during the summer after a solid loan spell last term. It was an impressive coup for the Lions, who appear to have big ambitions this season after beating the drop last term.

“It’s crazy how bunched up it always seems to be around mid-table,” told Sportsboom. “The start could have been a bit better, but where we are in the table is a good reflection of the start we’ve had.

“There are some games I feel like we have played really well and haven’t won. Where we are is a good start, I’d say. Sometimes there are games where we have played well and haven’t won. Those games we can look at ourselves and say we probably weren’t at our best, but that’s where you need to stick in and get a result like we did over the weekend. It’s definitely an ambition to get to the Premier League and there’s nothing wrong with ambition.”

With a tough-looking clash with Burnley on Sunday, the centre-back added: “If you look at us for example, before we won a couple of games in a row we were in the relegation zone and two games later we’re in the top ten. That’s what it’s like. It shows how important it is to get that consistency and striving forward and seeing where that takes you.

“The goal is to find consistency and go on a run. You’ve got to build it game by game and hopefully you give yourself a chance. Burnley will be a tough test for us. They’re at the top of the table for a reason, but we’re up for the challenge. You have to take it step-by-step. We had a hard summer with losing Matty (Longstaff) and we’re starting to gel together well now.”

Adapting to the second tier

Tanganga has made 27 appearances in the Premier League, but adapting to the Championship is a very unique challenge. “The Championship is tough physically,” he added.

“I’ve had to learn constantly playing Tuesday-Saturday, Saturday-Wednesday etc. It’s physically demanding. I don’t think people underestimate the Championship in terms of quality, you can see the quality in the league. But I think they can really underestimate that physical demand.”