Neil Harris wants to prove the bookmakers wrong once again next season.

Sky Bet have Millwall as relegation favourites despite the club losing just three league games in 2018. They believe the Lions will battle Rotherham, Bolton, Ipswich and QPR near the bottom of the league.

It’s the second successive year that Millwall have been listed as favourites for the drop.

“Yeah, I saw that - it gives you that memory of last year thinking ‘right, yeah, thanks, brilliant,’” Lions boss Harris told News Shopper.

“It has to be the same this year. The bookmakers do it based on facts and figures. You can say we got 72 points last season so would we be a favourite to go down?

“But they look at the bigger picture - the budget and competition and go ‘Millwall should be nowhere near it [promotion]’.

“They look at Rotherham, Millwall, Bolton and then possibly Wigan and Blackburn.

“But Wigan and Blackburn had a bigger budget last year in League One than we had in the Championship - not because we’re paupers - but because they've got loads of money.

MORE: Millwall boss has his say on new Derby County manager and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard

“That’s the reality and challenge for ourselves and Bolton this year. Do I expect us to keep on being near the bottom with the bookmakers? Yeah I’d imagine so. It’s our challenge to prove them wrong.”

Millwall finished eighth in an impressive 2017/18 campaign, which saw them go on a 17-game unbeaten league run.

It will be a challenge to better that finish in the upcoming season with West Brom, Swansea and Stoke coming down from the Premier League. 

Harris is desperate to get to 50 points as soon as possible.

“It’s always harder to strive to be better,” he added.

“We came eighth last season, how are we going to do better than that? That’s the challenge.

“I was very, very strong with my words to the fans, the target will be to get to 50 points as soon as possible and build from there.

“The players will be fully on board with that. That’s where we are at as a club. Last season we got to 50 points in February and by May we had 72 - that’s not bad going.

“It’ll be the same again, get the points and a hold in the division and see where it takes us.”