A Millwall Fan on Mark Beavers

With Bolton Wanderers finally given clearance to sign players for the first time since they were put under embargo due to the financial troubles of last season, it seems as if new boss Phil Parkinson is now in a position to bring in some of his own players to add to a seriously depleted first team squad. Jamie Proctor and Chris Taylor are almost certain to sign at this point, and it looks as if Wanderers are trying hard to bring in Millwall centre-back, Mark Beevers, too.

To get the lowdown on Bolton’s potential new defender, we talked to Millwall fan and football writer, Mark Litchfield, to get all the info we need:

Mark Beevers joined Millwall from Sheffield Wednesday in October 2012, initially on loan, before joining permanently in January 2013.

Since then, he has gone on to make 150 appearances for the Lions, scoring 8 goals.

A left-footed centre-half, Beevers has exuded calm, commitment and superb defensive ability during his time at The Den – mostly!

To get his weaknesses out of the way first, he has been prone to the odd mistake; I'm sure most – if not every – football fans have seen his outrageous back-pass against Peterborough United that was expertly headed over by Jordan Archer.

From memory, he has also been sent off twice during important cup games – the embarrassing 4-0 FA Cup defeat at Bradford and during our JPT Area Final tie with Oxford United last season.

If Beevers comes up against a striker with raw pace, he may find himself in trouble.

However, apart from that, he is a tough-tackling, intelligent defender that reads the game well and has proven to be a huge asset for the Lions over the last three years – mostly so in 2015-16.

His partnership at the back with Byron Webster was the best the club have had for years and with five goals – one being the consolation at Wembley in the play-off final – he knows where the net is.

His height allows him to be a threat from set-pieces at both ends.

In Chris Taylor, who Bolton are also rumoured to be signing, he has a best friend to immediately slot into the club with.

In all honesty, it has surprised me and many Millwall fans that the defender has chosen yourselves.

Obviously Bolton's intentions are to return to the Championship at the first attempt, but many of us are of the opinion that he should be playing there week in, week out, right now, rather than waiting a year or more.

However, time will tell. In short, you're getting a very good defender that's prone to the odd mistake!

We thank Mark for his time and you can follow him on Twitter @IAmTheLitch. We also implore you to take a gander at his ace blog, by clicking -> marklitchfieldblog.wordpress.com