Keith Millen is adamant his lack of Premier League experience as a player should not be allowed to detract from his abilities as a fledgling manager.

Comparisons are inevitable following the Londoner's appointment as successor to Steve Coppell, who walked out on City last week after just three months in charge.

Millen has been asked to follow in the footsteps of a household name, a man whose reputation both as a player and manager served as a byword for excellence.

During a career which took in Manchester United and England, Coppell the winger performed at the very highest level and on the biggest stage of all at the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain.

As a manager, the Liverpudlian twice led Crystal Palace to promotion to the top flight before winning a Championship title for Reading.

Millen clearly has a lot to live up to and some City supporters are yet to be convinced by the new manager's credentials.

After all, Millen spent most of his career as a combative centre-half in the Championship and League One with Brentford, Watford and City, while his experience of frontline management is confined to 12 games as caretaker at the end of last season.

But Millen possesses the courage of his own convictions and is confident he can win over the doubters and establish his credentials as a bona fide Championship manager.

Referring to his relatively humble football origins, he insists: "I don't think it matters. Playing and managing are two different things and the game is littered with people who have played at the highest level and failed as managers.

"Management is all about earning respect from the people you work with and, to a large degree, it comes from what you do on the training ground and in the dressing room.

"You automatically have that respect if you have played at the highest level and Steve Coppell did that during his career. But there are other ways to earn it and I believe strongly that you gain respect as a manager from your knowledge of the game and the way you treat people.

"There are various ways of getting that respect and fostering to getherness in a team and I'm confident I can do that. I'm confident in my own ability, my knowledge of the game and my man-management skills."

Indeed, Millen's intimate knowledge of the players at his disposal, forged over five years as assistant to Brian Tinnion and Gary Johnson, enabled him to effect a notable improvement in performance as the Robins put back-to-back defeats by Millwall and Southend behind them to earn a first Championship point at Doncaster last weekend.

Forced to work with the same players available to Coppell during his brief tenure, Millen introduced subtle changes to the system to render City a more cohesive unit overnight.

"I think I have one big advantage over Steve in that I know the players," argues Millen.

"It's not as though someone is coming in and having to start from afresh. In that respect, I think I'm better off than Steve was when he first took over."

Millen is looking forward to tomorrow's home game against Barnsley. He said: "I'm going to stamp my authority on the job and I'll be changing certain things.

"I want the team to play the way I want them to play and I don't think my previous record as a player will be an issue at all.

"Hopefully, I will be given time to get the team out there that I want, playing the way I want them to.

"But I also know we have to get some points on the board while we are progressing. We should have taken all three points at Doncaster and, given the way we played in the second half, I was disappointed to come away with only a draw.

"That result makes it all the more important for us to beat Barnsley and get our season up and running properly."