Millwall: Surprise package could be key for the Lions this season - View | OneFootball

Duncan Watmore has made an excellent start to the 2024/25 campaign for Millwall.

Millwall winger Duncan Watmore has made an excellent start to the 2024/25 Championship season, and his performances could be crucial throughout the rest of the campaign.

The Lions picked up their first win of the new season against Sheffield Wednesday at The Den on Saturday, with Duncan Watmore scoring the second goal during their 3-0 victory.

The 30-year-old has now scored four times in four Championship games, matching his goal tally for the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign inside the first month of the new season.

He netted a brace during Millwall's opening day defeat at home against Watford, before scoring again the following week as the Lions were beaten by Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

However, against the Owls, his goal contributed to Neil Harris' side collecting all three points, something that Millwall supporters will hope can become a regular occurrence during the remainder of the season.

Millwall signed Watmore from Middlesbrough at the end of the January transfer window in 2023, and he has gone on to make 54 Championship appearances for the club since then.

In that time, he has scored 11 league goals, six of which have come in the Lions' last eight games in the second tier. The winger scored nine goals for Boro during the 2020/21 Championship campaign, which was the most prolific season of his senior career to date.

While it has been somewhat unexpected, Watmore finding his goalscoring touch has come at a good time for Millwall, especially considering that strikers Tom Bradshaw and Mihailo Ivanovic are unavailable through injury at the moment and new signing Macaulay Langstaff is yet to get off the mark for his new club.

Physical forward Josh Coburn, who emulated Watmore by leaving Middlesbrough for Millwall this summer, scored on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.

With Coburn the only fit Millwall striker to have scored a goal this season, Neil Harris will be hoping that Watmore can continue to put the ball in the back of the net, and ensure the Lions have enough firepower to give themselves the platform for a successful season.

The next couple of months will be important for Millwall

Bradshaw is set to be sidelined for 10 weeks as he recovers from the hamstring injury that he picked up during Millwall's Carabao Cup second round defeat against Leyton Orient, while club-record signing Ivanovic is ruled out for up to two months.

Langstaff has failed to score in any of his first six games for the Lions after joining the club from League Two side Notts County this summer, so there could be pressure on Coburn to be a regular source of goals while Millwall's other strikers recover from their injuries.

How Millwall perform during the next couple of months could have a big impact on the rest of their season, and if they want to be looking upwards rather than over their shoulders during the final weeks of the campaign, they do not want to endure a bad run of form now, especially with winnable home games against Derby County and Plymouth Argyle coming in October.

If Watmore can continue his excellent form and carry on scoring goals in the Championship, it would definitely improve Millwall's chances of stringing together a few victories, pushing on, and setting their sights on at least a top-half finish at the end of the season.