Millwall v Huddersfield Town: Survival would rank with titles, insists Terriers keeper Tomas Vaclik

Despite being a player who has lifted titles on the continent with Sparta Prague, Basel and Olympiakos and won the Europa League while at Sevilla, dealing with a survival fight at Huddersfield Town has been something else for the experienced custodian.

His experiences are likely to be broadened in today's visit to Millwall, an imposing side who play in an intimidating arena.

Should Huddersfield pass the test and – more importantly – somehow still be a Championship club at the end of the season, then the feat would rank extremely highly alongside the Czech Republic international's previous accomplishments.

He said: "It is challenging, 100 per cent. It is a completely different kind of pressure to what I experienced in the last 10 or 12 years. I have (previously) played for winning a championship or to qualify for Europe or the next rounds, it's a motivation to show my best here in England and try and help the guys to survive.

"It would be really high (if Town stay up) because since I came here, from the first moment, the situation was not the best one and the gap was quite big, even when I first arrived.

"Now we have nine games left and need to start collecting the points, as every week the chance is smaller and smaller.

"But I can see the attitude of the guys. They are really fighting and working. With a bit of luck, I believe we can turn around this situation."

In terms of his own situation, Vaclik expects his time to end when his Town deal ends in just under a few months' time, when Lee Nicholls is likely to have completed his rehabilitation following shoulder surgery.

On whether he has held discussions with Town over his future, Vaclik continued: "Not yet.

"But I also think the idea of Huddersfield is for me to be here until May as Lee (Nicholls) is going to be fully fit by the end of the season and 100 per cent ready for the next.

"I think I am here just to cover this time when Lee is out.

"You never know what the future holds, but the first thing is to try and survive and save this season in the Championship and we will see what happens in the summer."

Vaclik has been named in the Czech Republic squad for their first two UEFA European Championship 2024 qualifying matches. They will face Poland in Prague on March 24 and Moldova in Chișinău three days later.