Shaun Hutchinson believes Millwall can push for a mid-table finish in the Championship this season.

The Lions defender is no stranger to second tier football after making 30 league appearances for Fulham.

Bookmakers have Millwall as one of the favourites to go down, but Hutchinson wants Neil Harris’ side to aim for more than just survival.

He told News Shopper: “You hear things like, Millwall are aiming for fourth from bottom, but to be honest, I think we really are looking for mid-table to establish ourselves. That’s what we want.

“We do not want to be leaving it until the last day of the season, surviving by one point, that’s not what we want. We believe that if we get off to a good start we can really establish ourselves mid-table.

“There is no denying it is going to be a real tough challenge, it is a massive step-up. A lot of Championship teams these days try to keep the ball and play out from the back, they will try to do all the similar sort of stuff as Granada did on Saturday.

“As a team, we need to prepare ourselves for times when we are hanging on or we are struggling. We just need to stick together and that is one thing we have in the dressing room, a good unity and a good bond between the lads, which will help us.”

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Hutchinson joined Millwall last summer following his release from Fulham.

And he appeared regularly in the latter stages of the Lions’ promotion-winning League One season.

But Hutchinson, 26, found out just how tough the Championship can be with the Whites, as the West Londoners finished 17th in the 2014/15 campaign after losing seven of their first eight league games.

He added: “It was a complete different set-up at Fulham, complete different style of play, everything was completely different, but it does help having experienced it a little bit, but one thing for sure is I do know how difficult it can be at times.

“Obviously, the physical aspect will be a lot higher, but we are up for the battle. We have got a lot of boys in the dressing room who are raring to go and are excited and do believe that we cannot just struggle, but establish ourselves in this league.”