Millwall have started the new campaign off in the same way that they ended the previous one ended.

The Lions remain unbeaten in the league so far this season and have only eight defeats in the league since October 2017.

Scoring goals is an art, but at The Den, the art of defending is cheered in equal measure to goals, if not more so.

The partnership of Jake Cooper and Shaun Hutchinson is arguably one of the best partnerships in the division, and one that has the Lions fans hold in high esteem.

Looking at the partnership, it first became a fixture in the Lions team back in October when Byron Webster suffered a severe knee injury in the 3-1 defeat to Barnsley last season.

The first game the two operated as a defensive pair, they lost, 1-0 to Brentford, but that could be overlooked seeing as it was a relatively new partnership.

Since the pair teamed up to form the foundation of a Lions side who pride themselves on being hard to beat, Millwall have only lost eight times in 38 games.

That is in no small part to the almost impenetrable defensive unit Neil Harris has at his disposal.

Scoring goals is all well and good but the impressive part of the game is keeping them out, on a regular basis, and that is what the duo have been able to do.

During that run of eight defeats in 38 games, 16 clean sheets were registered.

Both Hutchinson and Cooper throw their bodies on the line and defend like it is the last thing they will ever do.

The pair will get in amongst it and work off one another, they compliment each other well and have shown that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to their centre-half partnership.

Things will go wrong, of course, they will, but on the whole, the pairing has been incredibly impressive over the course of last season and the start of this.

A foundation is essential, and the pairing have paved the way for Millwall to stay in games and exceed expectations as they look to emulate their accomplishments of last year.

No partnership is perfect and having conceded over 40 goals as a defensive pairing there is still some room to improve, but the 82 per cent given shows the two know one another inside out and are one of the best pairings the division has to offer.