Danny Röhl knows it's time for points over performance as Sheffield Wednesday take on Millwall

The German coach picked up a side winless in 11 league matches back in October and has instilled a sharp upturn in performance in his 21 Championship efforts few would have imagined likely. A tally of 23 points in that time has given Wednesday a fighting chance of survival but heading into this afternoon's killer clash at Millwall, the German knows his side will have improve on a points-per-game average of 1.1 if they are to stay in the division.

A valiant performance against Leicester City's Premier League-bound side of second tier superstars on Tuesday night returned only a defeat, though a second half performance once again hinted at the capability of his squad. With Millwall having been dragged well and truly into the survival scrap by a winless run of six matches, there's no time better to cut the deficit on the safety spots to four points.

"In the last three weeks, with some of these games, Huddersfield and Birmingham were a similar situation," Röhl told The Star. "We will have it until the end of the season, we have to come close, closer and then we make the right step in the right moment and hopefully we will achieve our goal. This is our situation.

"It is an advantage for the other clubs, they maybe have this bit of a gap and sometimes it will be enough for them to win every three games or so. We must take as many points as possible again and again and again. This is our job. We all know the situation but it is not new. We have to keep going."

Wednesday have 14 matches remaining to salvage their place in the second tier and climb out of a relegation zone they have reluctantly made home since the first rounds of the campaign. Though a seven-point gap looks daunting, the Owls boss pointed to a run of form earlier in the season that showed they can put something together and time their run to safety to perfection.

He said: "When I look back, after Coventry away it was nine points, we took three wins in a row and then it was three. This is our job, to create a new momentum. It is difficult but it is where we are. I feel the belief, I feel the conviction and we took things from the second half against Leicester. I saw again that we can play good football, but that is not enough now, we have to take results."