The lowdown on Millwall 0 Hull City 1 – Lions urgently need transfer window reinforcements

Millwall goalkeeper Lukas Jensen was called into action 10 minutes in, out quickly to block Abu Kamara’s effort after he was sent through on goal. The Lions responded well to that and in the 19th minute had a chance of their own, Duncan Watmore broke through and the ball found its way to George Honeyman but the former Hull captain curled his effort over the bar. The Tigers took the lead in the 58th minute. Regan Slater’s fizzing cross bounced up and hit Lions skipper Jake Cooper before beating Jensen at the near post. That was the only moment of goalmouth action in a game that lacked quality from either side.

Millwall found it hard t0 create. The quality in the final third was non-existent. After the visitors took the lead, the South Londoners found it extremely hard to break down a resilient Hull defence.

Lions head coach Alex Neil made three changes to the side that started the 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday on January 4. Jake Cooper replaced Murray Wallace, Calum Scanlon came in for the injured Femi Azeez and Duncan Watmore replaced Romain Esse, who has departed for Crystal Palace.  At times it looked like the Lions boss had switched to a five at the back system during the opening 45 minutes.

Esse’s departure leaves a big hole for Millwall to fill in terms of creativity and that was very evident. Watmore tried his best to help with a couple of first half breakaways but he lacked that cutting edge in both of those instances.

Millwall, for the most part, were largely untroubled barring the early Kamara chance and the goal. The Lions have still only conceded 25 goals this season, the problem is not at that end of the pitch but the top end.

The lack of flow and cutting edge. The loss of Esse is huge, the teenager created the most so-called ‘big chances’ for Millwall this season with six.

Neil will be hoping that Femi Azeez can step up and fill Esse’s shoes. Azeez was also missing, another big loss considering how much he has improved and contributed since he made the move from Reading.

Both clubs have found scoring goals a struggle. Between them in the Championship this season they have played 53 games and scored just 50 goals.

Esse’s departure from the club was confirmed on Saturday morning with the 19-year-old signing a five-and-a-half year deal at Crystal Palace. It is a club record sale for the Lions but the worry now is where the creativity comes from.

The Lions have struggled so much this season in the final third, scoring just 24 goals in 26 games. A lot was put on the shoulders of Esse when he was here to provide the spark that got Millwall going.

How does the club reinvest the money into the playing squad and get that level of quality they need to help them push on up the table in the second half of the season? It looks like they will need to bring someone in.

Neil said after the defeat to Oxford in his first game that the club did not have a natural number 10 and that Esse was the closest to it. Now he is gone it is very clear that this is a must-fix area in the transfer window. The problem? That position is not a cheap one to fill.

They need reinforcements and they need them now.