Carlos Edwards, who is on loan at Millwall from Ipswich, admitted he moved to The Den to play first-team football, as well as help the Lions survive the drop.
The 35-year-old made his debut in the 2-2 draw with Blackburn that lifted the south Londoners off the foot of the table but they remain three points adrift of safety.
And Edwards is hoping that he can make a difference to his new team’s hopes in the final seven games.
“I came here to get some playing time. It’s also a challenge, but I want to help the team to get out of the rut they are in.
“I’m looking through the team and squad and thinking to myself, ‘Why?’ It’s a big question because of the quality of players we’ve got.
“It has puzzled me.”
The Trinidad and Tobago international helped Sunderland survive in the Premier League in 2008 and he admitted that he was puzzled as to why Millwall were in a relegation battle, given the squad at Ian Holloway’s disposal.
“You could say it was a habit for me!” he said. “Back then, Sunderland weren’t rock-bottom, but we were looking at the gun barrel.
“It so happened that we dug deep because once we looked around and saw the players who were next to you then you asked yourself, ‘Why are we in this situation?’
“Then you say, ‘Why are we not pulling our fingers out?’
“The lads looked at themselves in the mirror and a few harsh words were said. But we took it on the chin, it was constructive criticism and we survived.
Edwards believes that he will be able to repeat the feat at The Den and has targeted two wins from their away trips to Nottingham Forest and Wigan.
“It’s possible,” he added. “Nothing is impossible.
“We need to put our arms around each other and say, ‘Listen, these next seven games are crucial.’
“But we have the next two games away from home which will take some pressure off the lads. Who knows?
“We may be coming back down the road smiling with six points.”