GARY Rowett has explained his reasoning for returning to a back three against Gillingham as he hinted new signings were a part of his thinking.
Millwall ran out 2-0 winners in their opening pre-season game as Kevin Nisbet and Aidomo Emakhu hit the goals in the first and second half respectively.
The Lions opted for a 3-4-1-2 formation, with new signing Nisbet partnering Tom Bradshaw up front in the opening 45.
The back three is what Millwall began last season with before Rowett largely went with a back four after 12 Championship games.
But the Lions boss emphasised the importance of being “flexible” as he outlined why he deployed the formation at Priestfield.
He said: “It gives you two strikers, it allows you a little bit of freedom to get more goals into your team. I thought we played it okay first half, we didn’t play it quite so well in the second half.
“I think we’re always going to be flexible. Last year we started with a four and went to a five quite a lot within games. There were times [like] when we played against Blackpool and we played a five and played really well. There were times we played a [back] four in three or four of the last few games and we didn’t perform well.
“So for me it’s about the players. That formation is half an eye on the players we might be able to bring in and I think there’s a real flexibility in there in terms of what I think we need to be able to manage a couple of formations really effectively.”