George Honeyman’s “energy” impresses Millwall manager

Millwall boss Gary Rowett hailed George Honeyman’s “energy” in last night’s 1-0 friendly win at Colchester United.

Honeyman came on in the 60th minute, replacing George Saville, and received a round of applause from the travelling Lions supporters for the effort he put in.

Rowett told the South London Press: “He’s that type of player. I wasn’t going to put him on as early, but we put him on to give us a bit of energy.

“What he does is he lifts the crowd. He’ll lift the players around him, he’s got great energy. He shows some brilliant skill, a couple of little drag-backs on the lad on the touchline.

“He will be a fantastic player for us, he’s very versatile, he can play as a 10, he can play as a midfielder. What we have to do is find an outlet for his running and his energy .

“He pressed brilliantly and showed some good composure. He will be a brilliant player for us and the fans will see very quickly that the reason we brought him in was because we believe he can give us that energy and spark in games and lift not just the team but them, the fans.”

Isaac Olaofe got his first run-out in front of Millwall fans and linked up well with Benik Afobe and then Zian Flemming in the second half.

Rowett added: “Tanto’s been excellent in the loans he has had. You can see the goalscoring threat that he has got bit like Tyler [Burey] at times, we just need him to tidy up a little bit more technically sometimes to keep possession of the ball when we need to.

“They are the things they have to learn, they’re young players and the next step into the Championship is a difficult step but they’ve both given themselves a fabulous chance.

“Tyler has had that experience, Tanto hasn’t – all they can do is keep making me think can they do it, and do we strengthen that area with something different?

“That’s all they can do, they’ve both been excellent in pre-season so far. Tyler found it a little bit harder to find space tonight than he did against Dartford.

“As a 10 that’s something he will have to improve on and get better at as well – but that’s what these games are about. It’s about learning and taking those performances forward and impacting at Championship level which is what they are both trying to do.“