KENNY Jackett says he is pleased with the way Millwall reacted to their 6-1 humiliation at the hands of Watford earlier this season ahead of this weekend’s return trip to Vicarage Road.

The Lions were flying high in third spot in the table before the Hornets ran riot at The Den on September 18 and things could easily have turned out a lot worse on the day if keeper David Forde had not ma nagged to pull off some super saves.

Jackett is the first to accept the performance was a low point for his newly-promoted side but added results since then showed his squad had bounced back well.

The manager said: “We did very well to make sure that result didn’t knock our season.

“Coming into a new division it was important not to get deflated by the result or derailed from the fact we wanted to do well this year.

“As we stand before the game this weekend, we go into it two places above Watford in the table.

“Watford played very well on the day and we were poor but our recovery after that has been very good.”

Jackett enjoyed a highly successful playing career at Vicarage Road during Watford’s heyday in the 1980s under Graham Taylor and is guaranteed a warm reception from the home fans.

And although excited by his return, the Millwall boss is adamant he is going there to collect three points in order to keep the Lions’ fading play-off hopes alive.

He said: “I am looking forward to going back there.

“I have been back before once as a coach with Manchester City but this will be my first time as a manager.

“It is a big game and my main focus is on Millwall and Millwall winning.

“With 12 games of the season left we are looking to put a big run together. If you look at where Blackpool were this time last year, they had a great last dozen games and ended up in the play-offs.

“If we are going to start looking up the table rather than down, then this is a big week for us with games against Watford, QPR and Burnley.

“We need seven points out of nine and we do need a sprint finish if we are going to start looking at the top end of the table.

“That has to be our aim and aspiration.”

Millwall will be without Jack Smith, Jimmy Abdou and Shaun Batt for this weekend’s game but one piece of good news is the anticipated return of striker Josh McQuoid after he played 50 minutes for the reserves in their 1-1 draw with Dagenham earlier this week.

“Josh McQuoid is 100 per cent after the reserve game on Tuesday and I would expect him to be a substitute at Watford,” said Jackett.

And on Smith’s decision to pen a new deal at The Den, the manager added: “I’m pleased Jack is staying with us.

“He can play in a number of positions and he has proved in the few games he has played this year that he is capable of playing at Championship level.

“There are a couple of things he has to work on and improve and he is aware of that but I feel he is just coming into the prime of his career and has some good years ahead of him.”

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