A very Teesside feel with Josh Coburn goal before Ben Gibson does Middlesbrough little favour

At the same time as Middlesbrough were beating Luton Town on Saturday, there was a very Teesside feel to another Championship clash as Stoke City hosted Millwall.

Ending in a 1-1 draw, Millwall took the lead through Boro loanee Josh Coburn, who was making his first start for the Lions since his injury early into his loan spell at the Den. The 42nd minute goal meant the Teesside striker has two goals in three starts for Millwall - with the one start he didn't score in being the one he went off injured in after 30 minutes.

Unfortunately for Neil Harris, however, Coburn's goalscoring return wasn't enough to earn his in-form side all three points. Expanding the Teesside feel to that game, Teessider and Boro academy graduate Ben Gibson scored on the hour to earn his side a point.

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Furthermore, his goal did Boro a bit of a favour too. With Millwall having to settle for just one point, Boro were able to leapfrog them in the league table, which, at that time, saw Michael Carrick's side sitting in the top six. Boro would eventually drop one place to seventh - where they will sit for the next fortnight over the international break - due to West Brom's victory over Hull City on Sunday.

It was a real positive for Boro, however, to have Coburn return to the Millwall starting line-up and grab a goal. The 21-year-old was sent to Millwall for the season as Boro look to develop the striker and assess if he can have a longer-term future at the Riverside. With game-time likely to be infrequent at Boro this season after the arrival of Tommy Conway, Boro wanted Coburn to be somewhere where he could be tested physically as his body adjusts to the demands of playing regular Championship football.

Having been partnered against Stoke with Tom Bradshaw, also returning from injury, Lions boss Harris explained to Southwark News: "I can only praise my players and say how proud I am of the group. Tom Bradshaw has played 45 minutes of an under-21s game in three months and I played him today. And Josh Coburn being out in the cold to go and play 75 minutes – it’s mega by the group. Brilliant. We scored a fine goal, a well-worked free-kick to get Josh in. I’m delighted for him to come back and score.

"George Honeyman just couldn’t go again. He just can’t keep going at the levels he’s going at, we’ll end up breaking him and I wasn’t prepared to do that in the first half. Bradders to come in with the character, the desire, just the personality that he brings – I was so pleased for him to get back on the pitch.”