Millwall were made to look ordinary at the weekend after a four-game winning run came to a crashing end at the hands of Blackburn Rovers.

Neil Harris made three changes to his side after three league wins in a row were followed up with an FA Cup win at home to Hull City before the televised clash with Rovers this past weekend.

The Lions tried, but created very little, and looked void in any free-flowing attack.

It was a poor showing after an impressive run of results that filled Millwall supporters with hope that this season would turn out the same as last season’s ended with an incredible post-Christmas run.

But one of the issues the Lions face is they are missing a vital piece of the puzzle that made them so hard to beat last year.

When Ben Marshall arrived on loan at The Den last term, he hit the ground running and was a catalyst to the surging form Millwall were able to come up with in the second half of the season.

Five assists accompanied his three goals – including The Lions’ goal of the season last term were made in 17 appearances.

But despite the figures that usually dictate the perception of a player, his performances were incredible.

They even pushed Jed Wallace to improve, and the pair worked in tandem to be devastating down the wings.

Now, there were some bad feelings when Marshall’s loan expired and joined Norwich in the summer from Wolves, even though Harris had a bid accepted for the winger.

His decision to move to Carrow Road was seen my many Lions fans as financially driven ahead of regular football.

At Norwich, the football has been far from regular with only four Championship appearances to his name and usually from the right-back position.

It was no coincidence that his arrival started an improved run of form the Millwall and with so many parallels this season to last, one solution looks to be the way forward.

The Lions’ points tally after 27 games is similar to last, their abysmal away form has been compared with the start of the 2017/18 campaign, too.

And the possible arrival of Marshall could be deja vu for the London club.

In the defeat to Blackburn at the weekend, the winger was in the stands to watch the Lions falter to defeat.

He could have been sitting there thinking how much he would have improved the Millwall attack.

There are constants and similarities to the last year and a half for Harris and his side.

Marshall was a big part of Lions’ upturn in form, and they have suffered since he opted to sign for another Championship club.

Harris cooled his interest in the 27-year-old in the middle of December but with the sighting of the Canaries wide-man last weekend, a move could appear closer.

This could be the biggest piece of the puzzle that the Lions boss needs to recalibrate and reignite their charge towards the end of the season.