Northern Ireland International Daniel Ballard has signed for Millwall on a season long loan from Arsenal.

Ballard helped Blackpool reach the Championship via the playoffs in 2020-21 beating Lincoln City 2-1 at Wembley thanks to a brace from Kenny Dougall.

The centre-back made 30 appearances for the Tangerines as he found the back of the net on two occasions against Oxford United and Crewe Alexandra.

Ballard who has been capped eight times so far for Northern Ireland becomes Gary Rowett's third summer signing ahead of the new campaign.

In north London Ballard has also featured for Arsenal's' under-21s on three occasions in the EFL Trophy.

He also captained Arsenal's under-18 side to the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2017/18 and has also been a regular in our Premier League 2 sides during his time with the Gunners.

On signing for the Lions the 21-year-old explained to the club website: "It's an honour to be able to represent this club, I can't wait to get going.

"I've seen all of the lads and met the manager, the buzz around here is good and the atmosphere seems nice, I'm looking forward to it."

"Last season was a success personally, but this year will be an even bigger jump, stepping up into The Championship with a club pushing for the play-offs.

"With that comes a lot of responsibility, so hopefully I can step up and help the team. It's a step up from last year - I need to take these challenges on.

"It's good to see players of a similar age given the opportunity when they're doing well and playing. It gives me confidence that if I come in and work hard, then I'll play."

This will be Ballard's third loan spell of his career as he had a spell at Swindon Town cut short due to injury before going to Bloomfield Road last season.