Casper De Norre says playing even one Premier League game for Millwall would be the highlight of his career, and “there’s a chance that might happen”.
The 29-year-old midfielder has played more than 100 Championship games for the Lions across the past three seasons, narrowly missing out on the play-offs in previous years.
Alex Neil’s side have already secured a top-six spot this season and could snatch automatic promotion on the final day on Saturday should they beat Oxford United at The Den and second-placed Ipswich fail to beat QPR at home.
The Belgian told BBC Radio London: “It’s been like (this) for a few weeks because Ipswich always had the games in hand. It was about us trying to put as much pressure on them as we can.
“Obviously when you have it in your own hands it’s always better, now it’s just about applying pressure to them.
“Hopefully we can have the mindset going into Saturday – if we win they have to win as well.”
Even if they miss out on second spot, the Lions will have the chance to reach the Premier League for the first time via the play-offs.
De Norre added: “When I joined (in 2023) we’d missed out on the last day against Blackburn. It’s always been the goal, getting into the top six, especially since (Alex Neil) came in. We really took a step forwards.
“How we ended last season was already a big step forward in terms of believing we could do it, I think. It was a little bit of a miracle that we put ourselves in that position last year.
“That gave us the confidence to keep building and try to do the same or even better this year. That’s what we’ve done.
“It’s really nice to finally get into the play-offs and hopefully maybe even more.”
The former Belgium Under-21 international played in the Champions League and Europa League for previous club Genk, but he said: “When I came to Millwall it was always in the back of my mind it was probably my only chance of playing in the Premier League in my career. I am now 29. it was always my goal to achieve it through Millwall.
“If you have that opportunity, even if I play one game in the Premier League, it would be something amazing and would be the highlight of my career.
“Four or five years ago I never thought I would have the chance. Now, we still have a lot of work to do still, but there’s a chance that might happen and obviously that excites you.”
The popular Belgium midfielder, who has been a hit with the fans and staff since arriving – signing a new one-year contract extension last month – is also currently studying how to become a director of football after he has retired while concentrating on his side’s final promotion push.
He explained: “I was living here on my own, my wife was still living in Belgium, so she was not here all the time. I was playing [on the] PlayStation a whole lot.
“I still have to start thinking about what I want to do with my career [after retiring from professional football]. That year, the PFA started with giving those courses – and I was like why not try and do something, doing this first, and maybe doing my coaching badges afterwards when I’m back in Belgium.
“If there’s something that interests me, it’s that scouting part, building a squad and overseeing those different departments.”
