ROTTWEILER BILIC: DO I LOOK LIKE I OWN A COCKAPOO? Ex-hammer used to walk dog near The Den – but wasn’t scared

SLAVEN BILIC prepares for the Championship dogfight insisting he is more Rottweiler than Cockapoo.

Bilic visits The Den for the first time when West Brom’s hardman boss takes his table-topping side to Millwall tomorrow.

But he knows his spells at London rivals West Ham as both player and manager could mean he will get a hot reception. However, he said he is no stranger to the area because he used to walk his dogs there when he was Hammers manager.

Bilic said: “Millwall will be very difficult, especially at that ground. It’s a historical ground and they have a very competitive team – a team of men.

“I know the area even though I never played there. I used to live close by and used to walk my dogs.

“The people were always very nice but quite often they would remind me by saying, ‘You know this is Millwall territory’. But they always said it very nicely.”

Lesser men might well have given the place a wide berth, but Bilic says with a broad grin that he always felt safe, adding: “Do I look like I have a Cockapoo?”

Last Saturday’s

2-0 win over

Luton ended a seven-match league run without a victory and put Albion back on top of the table.

It has all gone a bit crazy in the promotion race and Bilic is not surprised. “Everything is always better with a win,” he said. “We never lost belief, but this division is so tough. “You can call the division ‘mad’ or whatever but it’s because of the diversity of it. Every game is a different kind of challenge. “The only way you can make a game easier for yourselves is by scoring a goal, but it’s almost as if you need a three-goal cushion to feel comfortable.”

Albion are still setting the pace despite their blip, with Bilic adding: “No team in

Europe, apart from Liverpool, is having a season without ups and downs.

“Winning again has taken that monkey off our backs and what we have to do now is to take something from that into this game.

“It’s game on now, but it’s been game on since the start of the season. You can’t afford to do anything other than focus entirely on the next game and nothing else.”

Defender Nathan Ferguson (left) is to have surgery on his knee after his £11million January transfer to Crystal Palace fell through after medical concerns.