Millwall fans got to see what former Sunderland and Middlesbrough attacker ‘is all about’

Duncan Watmore did his chances of starting Millwall’s Championship crunch finale against Blackburn Rovers on Monday no harm with his best performance since arriving at the South London club in January.

The former Middlesbrough and Sunderland attacker provided the assist for Tom Bradshaw’s second goal in last weekend’s 3-2 win at Blackpool and was fouled for Zian Flemming to strike home the decisive penalty.

Watmore played 86 minutes at Blackpool as Lions boss Gary Rowett switched to a 3-4-3 formation. It was only his second start since the end of February.

“It was one I toyed with all the week,” Rowett told the South London Press. “There were other players that I perhaps knew, a little bit more, what they would do because I’ve worked with them for a lot longer.

“Duncan is a good player. I felt the formation would suit him. I felt that little bit of freedom and his ability to dribble and open the game up would be something we needed.

“Going into it you hope his performance reflects some of those things. It certainly did. I was really pleased for him. He’s a really nice lad and he’s come into quite a settled group and team, therefore he hasn’t had as many starts as I’m sure he’d have hoped for.

“It felt like the right time. I felt he certainly grabbed his opportunity. He was excellent. He took the ball in tight areas and showed a little bit of composure to get out of it. It was a great pass for Bradders (for his second goal), he hit the post and got the penalty – as an attacker he did really, really well.

“He played that press and defensive side of it, he did his job. Sometimes as an attacker that is just as important, that you can trust a player to do those things. The other side is something they are going to do well in some games and not do so well in other games – no attacker is going to absolutely tear it up every game and be unplayable.

“Getting in the team is doing all of the other things well consistently. Dunc played a really strong role in that front three. It was nice for him and nice for everyone to see exactly what he is about as a player.”