Millwall are set to let veteran striker Matt Smith depart the club and head to League One high-flyers Wigan Athletic, according to the Portsmouth News.

Portsmouth and Danny Cowley were said to be eyeing up the 32-year-old - whose contract expires at the end of the season at the Lions - to bolster his attacking options with John Marquis potentially heading out of the exit door at Fratton Park.

But the Latics are thought to have won the race for the target man's services, with Leam Richardson in the hunt for a new striker following Charlie Wyke's continued absence due to suffering a cardiac arrest at the end of November.

Wigan were linked with a move for Preston North End's Ched Evans at the end of December but attentions have clearly turned to Smith, who has played in the North West of England in the past for Oldham Athletic.

Since signing for Millwall from Queens Park Rangers in 2019, Smith has scored 17 goals in the Championship and has played 21 times this season, scoring just once against Nottingham Forest back in September.

The Verdict

If Wigan wanted some experience at the top end of the pitch for their promotion push then they've certainly found it.

Smith has been a Championship standard striker for a long time but has been pretty much a 'plan B' option for Millwall recently.

He's a big unit of a striker and when he's on the pitch, the team tends to go direct in search of his head as he's a real aerial threat.

With Wyke's absence set to be a prolonged one, Smith will add something much-needed to the striking options at the DW Stadium and you'd imagine that it could be a permanent deal with his contract at The Den expiring in the summer.