Neil Harris after Sheffield Wednesday win: ‘Middlesbrough loanee Coburn has instantly brought a different identity to my Millwall side’

Neil Harris says deadline day signing Josh Coburn has brought a different identity to his Millwall side as they bounced back from Tuesday night’s EFL Cup exit to Leyton Orient to beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 at The Den on Saturday.

The Middlesbrough loanee, who joined on deadline day, was thrown straight into the starting line and scored on his first Millwall appearance in the 58th minute when he finished off a cross along the face of goal by Duncan Watmore.

Watmore then got himself on the scoresheet in the 71st minute when a corner fell to him just in front of James Beadle’s goal to smash home. The 30-year-old has netted four times in four Championship outings so far this season.

It was the first three points Millwall have picked up this season.

“Tuesday was tough,” said Harris.

“I picked a team that I didn’t want to pick but thought I had to. I didn’t get too excited or too low or anything like that. I knew once we got Josh Coburn in, we would have a different identity.

“I said after Leyton Orient that I didn’t recognise my team – I didn’t see a Millwall identity on the pitch. Today, I did.

“That’s the importance of having a number nine that you can play up to and get around. Tom Bradshaw has done that so effectively for a long time for us. Ultimately, I thought Josh gave everyone belief and confidence.”

Despite only having one point from their opening three games, there was a feeling that performances had deserved more – something the Lions head coach reiterated.

Harris added: “We felt robbed that we didn’t have more points [after the first three games].

“Today was about putting that right, and I felt we had an all-round performance today.”

Coburn had only played ten minutes of Championship football with Middlesbrough before heading out on loan to The Den.

“He’s killed himself, hasn’t he?” said Harris.

“The reason I wanted him was because I played with Steve Morison and Richard Sadler.

“For me, he’s a cross between the two.

“There’s a lot of praise there – two top players – and I don’t want to put too much pressure on Josh’s shoulders, but it shows how important he’s going to be to us as a group over the coming season.

“He gives us that focal point.

“The first thing he did was press the goalkeeper and force him to kick it out of play early on, and the fans went with him. He linked the play, won headers, and got better and better. I thought his combination play with George Honeyman was excellent and it really enabled Duncan Watmore and Romain Esse to give us some real flair and quality with the ball.

“The whole team was outstanding,

“I thought the backline and goalkeeper looked solid and assured – one save Lukas made was very clean. He did very well. It is a credit to the structure of the team and what the players delivered. We have cut out the individual errors and we look a much better team for it.”