Football League World
·15 October 2023
Football League World
·15 October 2023
After a gut-wrenching defeat to Blackburn Rovers on the final day of last season to deny them a play-off place, Millwall will be looking to put that disappointment behind them and push themselves into promotion contention this campaign.
The Lions were defeated 4-3 at the Den by Rovers in astonishing fashion to knock them out of the top six, with Sunderland and Coventry City pipping them to the post.
Despite suffering such a blow to their Premier League aspirations, the club has progressed successfully over a number of years, turning themselves from a mid-table side to one that can compete with the big boys of the division.
With expectations changing, it has been a mixed start to the new season in the second-tier, collecting 15 points from 11 league games as the club sit in 15th place.
With the January transfer window looming, Millwall will be looking at transfer targets to bolster the squad and push them up the table, with some players potentially heading for the exit door to fund further incomings.
From this, Football League World
Goalkeeper Connal Trueman came through the youth set up at Birmingham City and spent all of his career in the West Midlands until 2022, when he left to join Millwall.
Trueman linked up with Gary Rowett, who he knew well after featuring under him at Blues before he took over the hotseat at the Den.
The 27-year-old has struggled for regular game time throughout his career, playing just 15 times for Birmingham in his many years there.
It has been a similar case at Millwall, with Trueman failing the majority of the time to make it into the matchday squad and he is yet to make a league appearance in South East London.
Trueman has found himself behind some top-quality shot-stoppers, and that was further proven this summer when Millwall recruited Matija Sarkic from Wolves.
The Birmingham-born man now finds himself as the club’s third choice and while healthy competition is important in every position, Millwall may be willing to let Trueman leave in January to get regular minutes under his belt.
With a change of environment allowing Trueman to get his career back on track, the Lions may allow him to just leave on loan in the new year before assessing their options again next summer.
Next up is Millwall midfielder George Honeyman, who has not made a single league appearance at the start of the new second-tier season.
The 29-year-old featured heavily under Rowett last term but registered just one goal and three assists from 38 league outings as the Lions finished outside the play-off places on the final day of last campaign.
In pre-season, Rowett confirmed the former Hull City man had sustained a quad injury that left him feeling like he “couldn’t run properly” in their victory over Gillingham, but since building his way back up to full fitness, Honeyman has remained an unused substitute in their last three fixtures against Swansea City, Plymouth Argyle and Hull City.
If this trend does continue, many second-tier sides will surely be interested in securing his services on a short-term basis, with the Northumberland-born midfielder playing over 150 times in the Championship.
With summer signing Allan Campbell providing further competition on loan from Premier League new-boys Luton Town in the attacking department, it proves a harder task for Honeyman to work his way back into the starting lineup on a regular basis, with Zian Flemming and Duncan Watmore shoe-ins barring any injuries or suspensions throughout the course of the season in Honeyman’s other preferred positions.