Millwall captain Steve Morison has defended his goalscoring form this season.

The striker, 34, has found the net just twice but has played an integral part in the club’s climb up the table.

Since the turn of the year, Morison has had a hand in seven league and cup goals, scoring once and assisting six.

The Lions are 12 points clear of the drop zone after extending their unbeaten league run to four games with a 2-0 win over Reading last weekend.

Morison, who has been nominated for January's Championship PFA Fans’ Player of the Month award, told News Shopper: “I haven’t had the goal tally so people judge you on your goals when they know nothing about football.

“I’ve been playing well all season and it was just a matter of time before I got a couple of goals and all of a sudden [people] start to realise how much I do for this team and how big a part I am.

“I’ve always said that as long as I’m contributing to this team then I’m worthy of my place in the team. If I’m not scoring, I always like to walk off the pitch and say ‘have I contributed something?’

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“At this stage of my career, my mentality has changed from being a selfish striker to being a 100 per cent team player and setting up a goal is just as important as scoring one.

“Whoever scores the goals, someone’s got to set it up and if I can be that man then obviously that’s great.”

Millwall host fourth-placed Cardiff on Friday night and will aim to bounce back from their midweek FA Cup defeat to League One strugglers Rochdale.

The Bluebirds’ promotion rivals Wolves, Sheffield United, Derby and Middlesbrough have dropped points at the Den this season.

Cardiff boss Neil Warnock signed Morison for Leeds in 2013.

He added: “He’s a good manager who’s got them in a really good place. It’s going to be a really tough game on Friday night.

“He does what he does, he gets teams going and has good coaches around him that get the team playing well. He must be doing something right.”