GARY Rowett has no doubts that Benik Afobe will score goals for him having linked up with the striker for a second time.
The 28-year-old striker has endured a difficult few years through injury and spent last season on loan with Turkish outfit Trabzonspor – netting just five times in 29 Super Lig appearances.
Afobe had spent the previous campaign with Bristol City but suffered an ACL injury which forced him to miss eight months, only returning to action when the Championship season resumed following the break for the pandemic.
But Afobe is now back in familiar surroundings having secured a season-long loan move from Stoke last week for what will be his second spell in SE16, and Rowett is confident the frontman can get back to his best.
“You have got a very motivated Benik Afobe and he’s at an age where he wants and needs that top season, that he’s capable of doing,” he said. “From a family point of view, he’s back down South and a little bit closer to his family.
“We all know what him and his partner went through a few years ago, so that makes being around family important to you. So, there’s a mix of putting Benik into a good environment, where he’s enjoying his football and we hope, and we think that within that I am very confident Benik will score goals.
“I have got a massive belief in his ability as a forward, but we have got to offer him those other factors that will give him the chance to score the goals he has before. He’s mobile, he will work hard, he will press, he knows what runs to make and I have worked with him before, so it was quite an easy fit.
“At Millwall, I speak to Harvey a lot about what we want to find in players and one of those is a hunger and a real reason to be motivated.
“He fit the bill like most of the players we bring in and hopefully him brings that little bit of drive and desire to the group. Whether you’re 28 or 22, it’s important that we’ve got the right characters in that will try and push the team forward.”