Will Wolves denying Derby’s Ben Marshall move aid their title push?

Follow us on Google Discover

Derby County were hoping to loan Ben Marshall from Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers but the winger has joined Millwall instead.

Wolves may have an 11-point gap at the top of the Championship table but Derby County are still chugging along behind.

Stranger things have happened and, while Wolves have looked like Champions since the first ball was kicked in August, one difficult run of results could turn this seemingly foregone conclusion into something resembling a title race. So it was a sensible move for Wolves to send Ben Marshall to Millwall rather than Derby.

Enigmatic winger Marshall barely got a look in under Nuno Espirito Santo this season, featuring in just nine Championship games, and has now followed former Wolves winger Jed Wallace (below) to the Den in the hope of getting his career back on track.

The 26-year-old might not have made much of an impact at Molineux but he is a fine winger at Championship level who has thrived at Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers.

Marshall, then, could have been a great addition for a Derby side who lost Johnny Russell to the MLS and failed to replace him with deals for Ademola Lookman and James McClean coming to nothing.

It was reported as far back as November via The Sun (26 November, page 69) that Derby were keen to rescue Marshall from the Black Country 12 months after Paul Lambert brought him over from Blackburn.

But how on earth would Wolves possibly benefit from strengthening their closest challengers for the Championship title?

Sending Marshall to mid-table Millwall instead could put Wolves one step closer to promotion.