GARY Rowett has no worries about Jed Wallace being distracted by speculation over his future going into this season – saying the attacker has been “exemplary in how he conducts himself”.
Wallace, 27, has a new contract offer on the table but has yet to sign it.
The former Portsmouth and Wolves man has just one year left on his current deal and after 10 goals in each of the last two seasons will attract transfer interest.
This transfer window closes at 11pm on August 31.
Wallace has featured regularly in pre-season and scored the third goal in the 3-0 friendly win against Ipswich at Portman Road last Saturday.
Wallace is a down-to-earth and extremely diligent character, and Rowett will be counting on him this month and hopefully beyond it.
“I’ve said it before, Jed’s a really important member of the squad,” Rowett said. “He has a real responsibility in there as one of the senior voices.
“He works hard every day in training and he shows it on the pitch. He’s been fantastic for us over a two-year period and I don’t expect that to be any different.
“He’s a top player and a top lad and, really, all the rest of it will get dealt with one way or another.
“For me, it’s about what he does on the pitch and how he conducts himself. And he’s been exemplary so far.”
Millwall have sold out their allocation of 2,504 tickets for their league opener against QPR this Saturday.
Excitement is building this week as supporters prepare for their first away trip for a competitive game since March 6, 2020, at Nottingham Forest.
But Rowett and his players are remaining focused as they aim for a first win at Loftus Road since 1989.
“We’re looking forward to the season starting, having fans back which is quite well-documented how exciting that is for everybody in football,” Rowett said. “Having that atmosphere back at games is an incredible prospect.
“But we’ve been excited since we came back the first week because the work we’re trying to do is quite consistent work. How we work in week three or four of pre-season is not that much different to how we work in week one of the season.
“Obviously there are three points on the line and the importance of the game goes up.
“I think everyone’s ready for it and we’re in a relatively good position, but we’ll see what happens.”
Image: Millwall FC