Tim Cahill ‘massively’ helping Millwall off the field as they push for play-off spot, says Jake Cooper

The defender says the experience and leadership coming from both Cahill and captain Steve Morison have had a big impact in the dressing room

The Australia international has only made substitute appearances since arriving back in south London (Getty)

Despite not making a single start since returning to Millwall, Tim Cahill has helped the club “massively” in their push for promotion, according to defender Jake Cooper.

The Australia international has only made substitute appearances since arriving back in south London in January, where he started his footballing career 20 years ago.

It’s been difficult for the 38-year-old to find a place in Neil Harris’ starting line-up, which has been changed just once over the last 10 games.

The Lions are now a point off the play-offs following a 2-0 win over Bristol City at The Den on Saturday, in which Cahill came on for the last seven minutes.

Cooper says the experience and leadership coming from both Cahill and the likes of captain Steve Morison have had a big impact off the field.

“I’ve learned a lot from Steve [Morison] here last year, and then Timmy adding to that this year has been another level,” said Cooper.

“He’s a great guy to have around the boys and the dressing room. His experience is second-to-none and I think even though he hasn’t had a massive role in the team, he’s helped the team massively, I believe.”

Since a defeat to Norwich on New Year’s Day, Millwall have been on an upward trajectory, and are unbeaten in 15 league games – their form is only second to Fulham in the Championship.

Jake Cooper has been full of praise of the likes of Tim Cahill and Steve Morison (Getty)

There are now just five games left to go, and Cooper thinks the amount of freedom Harris has given the players on the field has played a vital role in how far they’ve come since gaining promotion from League One last season.

“I don’t think we’ve gone into any game this season with pressure,” claimed the 23-year-old. “The better we’ve done almost the pressure has dropped off us. We pushed away from the relegation zone and it was really just about how far we could go.”

“We set up each game the same and we play with a freedom, as such, and it’s resulting in good performances at the moment,” he added. “A lot of us were here last year and we have experience of being in around the play-offs and hopefully we can use that in the next five games.”

The Lions next face a trip to Bolton on Tuesday night, who face the polar opposite problem of being one place above the relegation zone.

“I think they’re the harder games, because they’ve got everything to lose,” admits Cooper. “We’ve played a couple of middle-table teams that haven’t been playing for as much.

“We know they’ve got to give everything to try to get some points, so it’s definitely not going to be easy and we’ve got to make sure we’re on our game."