Four takeaways from Millwall’s 1-1 friendly draw at Gillingham
Millwall drew 1-1 with Gillingham at The Priestfield stadium on Tuesday evening, after Jake Cooper’s late header cancelled out Kyle Dempsey’s first-half strike.
Here are four takeaways from the match:
DANIEL BALLARD IMPRESSES
Starting in a back three, next to Murray Wallace and Lions skipper Alex Pearce, Ballard’s display was a very positive one.
The Arsenal loanee looked composed on and off the ball, and came close to scoring from a corner midway through the first half, when his strike flew just over the bar.
Ballard showed great leadership on the right of the back three and his aerial ability was second to none.
JED WALLACE MISSED
The Lions number seven has got into double figures two seasons running for goals and his creativity was certainly missed at The Priestfield.
There was a lot of a width on the wings in the friendly, and you felt Wallace would have utilised that well.
Benik Afobe and Mason Bennett struggled in the first-half. Wallace’s creativity may have been able to unlock the Gillingham defence with his clever movement off the ball.
CONNOR MAHONEY LOOKED LIVELY
The 24-year-old came on with 20 minutes remaining and certainly looked a threat.
Mahoney was so close to equalising for the Lions, after his fizzing volley looked destined for the bottom corner, before being excellently saved by the Gills keeper.
Whilst playing in an attacking midfield role, Mahoney looked to receive the ball on the half turn and cause an overload. He floated the corner in that led to Millwall’s late equaliser.
MORE MINUTES FOR RYAN LEONARD
The midfielder suffered an injury in Millwall’s 4-1 victory against Sheffield Wednesday in February and didn’t feature for the rest of the 2020-21 campaign.
Leonard played 45 minutes in the Lions’ defeat against Arsenal on Saturday and played another 70 minutes against Gillingham.
Playing next to George Evans in the centre of midfield, Leonard won a number of second balls and looked comfortable in possession and looked dangerous when driving at the Gillingham defence.
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