Steve Morison 2.0? Millwall may have hit the jackpot with Middlesbrough agreement - View | OneFootball

Josh Coburn's Millwall debut provided evidence that he can be an ideal fit at The Den this season.

Steve Morison was a perfect match for Millwall during his playing career at The Den and Middlesbrough loanee Josh Coburn may well be the same.

Morison signed from non-league side Stevenage (then known as Stevenage Borough) in 2009, before going on to enjoy three separate stints with the Lions, on his way to becoming one of the greatest players in the club's modern history.

In a Millwall career that saw him make 336 appearances, scoring 92 goals and providing 65 assists, Morison was at the centre of so many memorable moments in the club's history.

The 41-year-old, who has now entered into football management, epitomised what it meant to be a Millwall player. Hard work, physicality, and a never-say-die attitude.

From his performance in his Millwall debut vs Sheffield Wednesday, Coburn appears to tick a lot of those boxes too, and could become the latest striker who fits the South London club down to the ground.

Coburn can bring Morison's qualities back to Millwall

Size, physicality, work rate, a poacher's instinct in and around the penalty area, and the ability to bring teammates into play; these are all traits that both Morison and Coburn share.

The combination of those traits made Morison a striker that no defender wanted to play against, with an all-round game that provided him with the tools to hurt the opposition in a variety of ways.

Despite being just 21, Coburn has a vast amount of experience in senior football under his belt, having made his first-team debut with Middlesbrough all the way back in 2021.

Standing at 6'3", the Bedale-born striker has a very similar profile to that of Morison, with his physical stature meaning he can be that battering ram centre-forward that Millwall and their manager Neil Harris love to deploy.

Linking back up with his former Boro teammates Duncan Watmore, George Saville, and Liam Roberts - who know all about his strengths and areas he needs to improve in - will undoubtedly help Harris to get the best out of him too.

With their other centre-forward options in Tom Bradshaw and Macaulay Langstaff both smaller, more nimble players than Coburn, the Boro loanee offers a completely different weapon for Millwall to lay siege to opposition defences this season.

It's impossible to say whether he can or will go on to have the Millwall career that Morison had, not least because he's only on loan, and it isn't fair to compare the two players ability-wise at this stage either, but the young striker certainly looks like he can bring a lot of what Morison did to the table.

With Middlesbrough retaining the services of Emmanuel Latte Lath this summer and adding to their forward ranks with the signing of Tommy Conway, Boro aren't short of striking options.

Delano Burgzorg and Marcus Forss can both operate as centre forwards too, meaning head coach Michael Carrick couldn't guarantee the regular first-team football that Coburn was seeking at the Riverside Stadium this season.

Carrick appears to have put together a squad that is capable of winning promotion to the Premier League this term, and if they do, that could have a drastic impact on the future of Coburn as a Middlesbrough player.

If they were to seal their place in the top flight for next season, the path to starting opportunities in the North East will surely only grow even more treacherous.

Therefore, for a player who has comfortably outgrown academy football and is now wanting to really kick on with his senior career, that would surely mean a permanent move is something that he'd have to explore.

Even if Boro don't win promotion this season, Carrick and his coaching staff are evidently in favour of their other forward options at the club, with Coburn's style of play perhaps not best suited to what the Middlesbrough boss wants from his centre-forwards.

That certainly isn't the case for him at Millwall, and in The Den, he may well find a home that provides him with the best opportunity to play football and score goals in a team that works to his strengths.

As such, if Coburn continues to make an impact throughout the season, Millwall will surely explore the possibility of securing a permanent deal for the young striker in the near future.