Coburn Targets Revival as Millwall Struggles Early in Season
Millwall striker Josh Coburn expresses confidence in the team’s ability to bounce back after a sluggish start to the season. The Lions have only managed to secure five victories from their first 14 matches, placing them in 13th position in the Championship. This is a notable decline from their strong performance in the 2025-2026 season, where they finished third, missing automatic promotion by a single point, before being eliminated by Hull City in the play-off semi-finals.
Head coach Alex Neil has faced challenges this season, with multiple key players sidelined, including Coburn, Tristan Crama, Casper De Norre, Mihailo Ivanovic, Ryan Leonard, and Massimo Luongo. Coburn, who has made only six appearances this season, made his return from a recent setback as a substitute in the 3-0 defeat against form team Birmingham City on Tuesday.
“I started the season really well and felt really good,” Coburn shared with BBC Radio London. “I just wanted to have this full season, but luckily with the long international break, I haven’t missed too many games. I just hope to bounce back and help the team as much as possible.”
Coburn humorously noted, “I think the physios hate me to be honest because I always try and push myself as much as possible, and I always try and get back a week early.”
The 23-year-old experienced a challenging season last year, missing three months due to a hamstring injury, but he returned to score eight goals in Millwall’s final 18 league matches. Reflecting on his recovery, he commented, “There are little things you can work on when you’re not fit, and that definitely helped me last season. I felt really good and ended the season really well, and I hope that’s the case this season.”
Coburn emphasized the importance of being cautious, stating, “Especially with it being so early on in the campaign, you don’t want to be rushing back too quickly and get another injury. The worst-case scenario is to ensure your body is ready. I feel really good now, so I’m hoping I can try and kick on.”
Millwall is currently just five points shy of this season’s extended six play-off places, with another 24 regular-season matches remaining, including a match against West Brom on Saturday and nine additional fixtures over the next nine weeks. “There’s so many games in the Championship; there’s always the next game. You don’t dwell on things as much,” Coburn remarked.
He expressed optimism about the team’s progress, stating, “Everyone is progressing well, and we should have almost everyone back after the break. Then you’ll really see the true Millwall and the results we saw last year. Everything is so close together. You win on Saturday, and then after the break we’ve got three back-to-back games. Win those, and you can fly up the table.”
Coburn concluded with a focus on maintaining stability: “We know we just need to concentrate on ourselves, stay grounded, not get too high or too low, and just look to the next game.”
