Gary Rowett has explained why Millwall split their squads for two pre-season games against Sutton United and Brentford’s B team on Tuesday.
The Lions, who started a side that included Andreas Voglsammer, Aidomo Emakhu, Tom Bradshaw and Zian Flemming, beat Brentford B 5-0 at Calmont Road in the afternoon.
Millwall still put out a strong side at Gander Green Lane, with Kevin Nisbet, Romain Esse, George Saville, Duncan Watmore, George Long, Billy Mitchell, Murray Wallace, Joe Bryan and Jake Cooper all starting.
Summer singing Nisbet scored a hat-trick as the South Londoners won 3-0 over Matt Gray’s League Two side.
“It was trying to find a blend,” said Rowett.
“We maybe played one or two more younger players this morning because we were against a more of an U21 side, so we felt tonight would be a little bit more physical.
“It always shapes your thinking. But with someone like Romain, for example, it’s a good opportunity to come up against a physical side and see if we can get some of those little bits off the ball and his quality, which helps us on the ball.
“It’s different thought processes. But, ultimately, it’s about challenging the players.
“We have a good squad, and that will only get stronger as pre-season develops and we bring more players in.
“Sometimes you have to give players an opportunity and we saw against Gillingham, occasionally, it just didn’t quite work how we wanted in difficult conditions.
“But today, the attitude from both sets of players was exactly what we’re looking for.
“It’s really pleasing.”
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