Gary Rowett delivers verdict on Millwall’s January transfer window

Gary Rowett admitted that it had been a “very difficult” January transfer window for him and his Millwall team, during a conversation with News at Den after last night’s 0-0 draw with Preston North End. 

The Lions did Oliver Burke and Luke Freeman to the squad, however, Rowett admitted that the clubs saw four or five bids rejected as they tried to strengthen. 

Millwall sit on 37 points from 28 games, eight shy of the play-off positions. 

Despite their 14th place position at present, the competitive nature of the Championship at the moment means that they still possess an outside chance of the top-six this season. 

Speaking to News at Den, Rowett said: “It’s a difficult window.

“We set out at the start of the window to bring some young players in, we had four or five bids rejected for players.

“It’s very difficult because of course we have to try to do things in a sensible way. We tried to bring those players for the long term in.

“When you can’t do that what you then have to do is try to impact your team. We wanted to do some business and see if we could just freshen the squad up a little bit.

“We had four or five players that had been here and not played much football for too long. When that’s the case and they’re not happy that affects the group a little bit. I just felt the group needed a little bit of a freshen-up.

“Keeping Jed [Wallace] has helped us do that a little bit in a different way. It wasn’t perfect, it’s something we need to improve on down the line.”

The verdict 

Rowett and his Millwall side have certainly added quality with Burke and Freeman coming in, with the latter possessing the creative abilities that are needed to consistently unlock defences at Championship level. 

The addition of Freeman is