By Coral Barry

Neil Harris has heaped praise on Lee Gregory after his goal against Peterborough United took him to 20 strikes for the season.

The striker’s header early in the second half was the hitman’s tenth since the start of the New Year as Millwall cruised to a 3-0 victory at the Den.

Gregory’s rich vein of form has coincided with six wins in eight games for Harris’ team and he was eager to praise the forward.

He said: “What an achievement, 20 goals at any level is an achievement.

“I think he had a very slow start to the season because of injury, but to be on 20 already with 14 games to go, there’s more to come.

“I think it’s a good statement of intent from us. We bounced back from Tuesday night’s below par performance against an organised Scunthorpe team.

“A lot of credit goes to my players because they had some criticism after Tuesday night from all angles including myself. They’ve dealt with that in the right manner and we have learned from it as a group.”

MORE: Charlton fan offers club CEO his season ticket - watch

Lions ‘keeper Jordan Archer was called into a dramatic save with his head despite Millwall dominating early on when a 45-yard back-pass almost found the net.

Gregory missed a sitter soon after, but he was on hand on 30 minutes to chip the ball to the back post where Steve Morison headed home for his 12th of the season.

After the break the hosts doubled their lead when Gregory rose highest to smash a powerful header past Ben Alnwick.

Morison then added a second with half an hour to play with yet another header.

Millwall are now sitting pretty in 5th, tightening their grip on a play-off place, with relegation-battlers Doncaster Rovers next on the horizon.

Harris was pleased with the performance after slipping up against Scunthorpe and was particularly keen to point out the excellent atmosphere in the Den.

He said: “I thought the fanbase was outstanding today.

“Hopefully a majority of them read my programme notes on patience and did get behind the team.

“I thought the reaction was outstanding and I think you saw that in the performance of the players.

“We saw a relaxation in the team. I certainly saw an aggressive side to us which pleased me.”

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt