Millwall boss Gary Rowett has no plans to lose ‘top, top goalkeeper’ Bartosz Bialkowski

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has emphasised he has no desire for Bart Bialkowski to make a January transfer window exit.

The 35-year-old goalkeeper, a back-to-back winner of the club’s Player of the Year award, is out of contract in the summer and has lost his starting spot to George Long.

Bialkowski has been an unused substitute for the last 11 matches with George Long having an extended run between the posts.

The former Ipswich Town player, who has made 152 appearances and kept 50 clean sheets since arriving in SE16, came out of the Lions’ starting line-up after a 2-0 home loss to QPR on September 14.

Asked by the South London Press if there had been any conversations about whether the Poland shotstopper would look to move in the new year, Rowett replied: “Not recently. First and foremost, Bart has been very, very unfortunate to be out of the team.

“It’s been one of the few times I’ve probably ever taken anyone out of the team and it is not purely down to form – just down to the team’s form at that time and that I felt I needed to change something quite big to make that impact.

“Being out of the team, Bart has been incredible. He has supported Longy brilliantly and been brilliant around the place. He is not just a top, top goalkeeper but also a top bloke. I’ve got a really good relationship with Bart.”

Bialkowski won Millwall’s Player of the Year award in 2020 and 2021. He also won the EFL Championship Golden Glove in the 2019-20 season, keeping 16 clean sheets.

“I don’t want him to go anywhere because he is a brilliant player,” said Rowett. “I’m sure there is going to be some point when he is going to need to come back into the team and do what he has done for so long.

“But, at the same time, if he turns around to me and says: ‘I want to play’ then he is one of those players we’d try and be respectful of because he has been so good with us.

“That’s kind of where we’re at. I’ve had no indication where that is going to go.

“As far as I’m concerned he is here until the summer and possibly beyond. Who knows? That’s not a conversation I’ve had at this moment in time.”