Millwall defender has delivered exactly what was required during loan stay

Millwall manager Gary Rowett reckons that it was a case of mission accomplished in terms of Alex Mitchell’s season-long loan away from SE16.

The 21-year-old centre-back made 29 appearances for St Johnstone, all in the Scottish Premiership, and picked up their Young Player of the Year award last month.

Mitchell has previously had loan stints with Leyton Orient and Bromley.

Last summer he followed in the footsteps of team-mate Danny McNamara by joining a St Johnstone team managed by former  Lions assistant boss Callum Davidson.

Davidson was sacked in April with the Saints eventually finishing ninth in the table.

Mitchell scored one goal, a 2-1 loss to Celtic at McDiarmid Park in October.

“The whole point of him going out on loan is to see if he can bridge that gap between where he was at and getting into our first team,” Rowett told the South London Press. “We had St Johnstone as a loan – can he go there and get experience, game time and develop further? He’s done exactly that.

“Towards the end, just before and after Cal left, he had not played every game. But he has played a good amount and had some really good experiences against really challenging opposition.

“We’ve been pleased with the loan and his development.

“The question is always the same, can Alex come back in pre-season and show his development and that he’s closer to being involved with us regularly? If he is, then absolutely fantastic and he can challenge for a place in our team. If he’s not then we have to decide what the next steps are. But he has taken himself out of his comfort zone and proved himself. We’ve watched all his games and clips. He comes back with a chance to fight for a place in our team and squad.”