Millwall new boy’s long-term playing position will be central midfield

Gary Rowett has given his assessment on George Evans’ Millwall debut – and reckons his long-term position will be central midfield.

The 26-year-old signed a permanent deal with the Lions last week, moving for an undisclosed fee from Derby County.

And Evans played the full 90 minutes in Saturday’s 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

“He started a little tentatively – that’s always the case when the team doesn’t start well and it is your first game,” said Millwall boss Rowett. “It’s quite hard to stand out from the rest of the team’s performance. But he grew into it as the game went on.

“He was excellent in the second half. I’m pleased with the way he competed. He won a lot of headers and intercepted a lot of things, he made good covering tackles and had nice composure on the ball.

“Long term for us he’ll play midfield. But between him and Lenny [Ryan Leonard] we have got a nice selection to have in a back three. They all look really, really mobile and able to cover each other – to step in and leave us two-v-two.

“He seems a really good guy and his transition was helped by the fact he knows Scott Malone, Mason Bennett, Alex Pearce and Coops [Jake Cooper]. Him and Coops are quite good mates from when they were at Reading.

“George is the type we want – at 26 he’s in the peak of his career and he is flexible. That flexibility will help us out in the months ahead.”