Millwall boss explains why in-form attacker did not feature against Charlton

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has explained why Duncan Watmore did not feature against Charlton Athletic.

The former Middlesbrough and Sunderland attacker has been one of the Lions’ brightest performers in pre-season.

But Watmore was an unused sub in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw at The Den.

“It was deliberate,” Rowett told the South London Press. “He has been good but he has not got through pre-seasons previously for various reasons.

“It was just one where we thought about the fact he had done so many minutes and looked good. He has trained virtually every day, which has been unusual for him in terms of historically.

“I didn’t want to push that. It was a good opportunity to give him a little bit of a breather. I was tempted to bring him on and try to win the game but that’s where you judge the game in a little bit of isolation – because you’re not going to put your strongest team out, are you? You’re not desperately trying to win it with your subs.

“We wanted to let the youngsters have a go and see what they could do, let Dunc live to fight another day.

“Hopefully he should be nice and fresh for the weekend and no issues. I just had a gut feeling to leave him that night and give him a bit of a breather.”