ROMAIN Esse is set to return to Millwall’s first-team squad after Mason Bennett’s ankle injury.
The 17-year-old was left out against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon after featuring regularly off the bench in the latter stages of December and throughout January.
However, with Oliver Burke and Duncan Watmore joining the club late on in the transfer window, the youngster has more competition for game time against vastly experienced attackers.
Manager Gary Rowett admitted that it was good to have more depth on the bench, but explained that “the problem is we won’t have that in the next game” after Bennett suffered a serious injury against Sunderland over the weekend. He was stretchered off the pitch during the half-time break and the Lions fear that he may have broken his ankle.
Millwall will now have fewer options that they can rely on to change games off the bench, but Rowett is confident that Esse can play a big part in the final months of the campaign.
“That’s the challenge,” he explained after the game. “You can see how that can impact a game and give you that momentum later on and puts the other team on the back foot late on.
“That’s what we’ve needed. I’m really pleased with those two. I think they will play a big part moving forward. Young Romain was left out of the squad today because I felt it was a game that needed a bit more experience. I felt it would be really physical. But he has been incredible in training. He was really unlucky today.
“It’s probably likely he’ll have to step up and impact the games as well, which I’m pretty confident he can do.”
Photo: Millwall FC