Shaun Batt bagged a debut goal as Millwall moved into the Play-Off places with a hard-fought 2-0 win against struggling Southend United.
Striker Batt was signed on loan from Championship outfit Peterborough United on Monday afternoon and was handed his first start by manager Kenny Jackett in the absence of the injured Neil Harris.
Danny Schofield had already fired The Lions ahead deep into first-half injury-time when Batt struck to make the points safe on 64 minutes and hoist The Lions up to sixth in the table.
Kenny Jackett's side deserved victory on the balance of play, but at times - especially during the opening 45 minutes - this was a scrappy, scruffy contest.
Millwall carved out a decent opening virtually straight from the kick-off. There were just 23 seconds on the clock when the lively Batt combined with Chris Hackett on the right and his deep cross was headed narrowly wide by Steve Morison.
Batt had a 29th-minute shot comfortably saved by keeper Steve Mildenhall and Morison then lashed over after Batt had flicked on a long ball from Paul Robinson.
The Lions tried to get some fluency to their attacking play, but on a sticky, heavy pitch chances were few and far between.
However Millwall managed to make the all-important breakthrough on the stroke of half-time with a real mishmash of a goal. Morison's initial shot was deflected into Jack Smith's path, he in turn swung at the ball and his miss-hit shot fell for Schofield, who slotted into an empty net despite Southend's appeals for offside.
The visitors created a rare chance after 53 minutes when the petulent Damian Scannell powered through the heart of the home defence before firing over from 16 yards.
At the other end Morison was denied by a great tackle from Jean Francois Christophe as he prepared to pull the trigger and then Schofield set up Batt, who drove narrowly over from the edge of the area.
The Lions finally produced a second, killer goal, on 64 minutes. Trotter was the provider with a smart pass to Batt, and although the young striker still had plenty to do, he showed great composure before despatching a precision finish into the far corner that gave Mildenhall no chance.
Skipper Robinson nearly produced a third goal a couple of minutes later, only to see his powerful header from a Schofield cross flash a yard off target.
With The Lions comfortably in control Southend boss Steve Tilson introduced Dougie Freedman and Scott Spencer for the last quarter of an hour to try and add a spark up front.
But the visitors remained devoid of any real attacking ideas and failed to really test David Forde in the Millwall goal throughout.

Millwall: Forde, Smith, Craig, Abdou, Robinson, Ward, Schofield, Trotter, Morison, Batt, Hackett. Subs not used: Sullivan, Dunne, Grabban, Martin, Barron, Price, Laird.
Bookings: Batt (22mins), Abdou (48mins), Trotter (62mins)
Scorers: Schofield (45+4mins), Batt (64mins)

Southend United: Mildenhall, Francis, Malone, Christophe, Barrett, Grant (Freedman, 73mins), McCormack, Paterson (Spencer, 73mins), Scannell, Moussa, Sankofa (O'Keefe, 46mins). Subs not used: Walker, Herd, Crawford, Bentley.
Bookings: Grant (40mins), McCormack (49mins), Malone (79mins)

Ref: Karl Evans
Att: 7,612 (away 429)