Millwall have made no secret of the fact they’re keen on making the striker’s loan deal permanent in the summer.
The 22-year-old has had a frustrating injury-hit campaign at The Den but has still managed to make a big impact on club bosses and head coach Alex Neil.
The Lions tried to make Coburn’s switch permanent in January but an agreement wasn’t reached. They will, however, try again in the summer, with Neil recently confirming his desire to keep the striker in the capital.
Coburn is obviously aware of Millwall’s plans, but insists he’s trying to put thoughts on his future to the back of his mind.
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Boro bosses have remained in contact with the striker throughout his loan spell, and talks will be held at the end of the season.
Boro were understood to have been open to doing a deal on Coburn in January, but it’s not clear at this stage whether that stance will have changed come the end of the season.
Strengthening up-front will be a priority on Teesside in the summer window, with Boro needing to replace Emmanuel Latte Lath, who left for Atlanta United in January.
“I’ve loved my time down here and loved playing for this club,” Coburn told the South London Press this week when quizzed on his future.
“For me it was just best to concentrate on this season and getting to the summer – then those conversations can take place.
“A lot of things aren’t in my hands. Some of it is down to Boro and what they want, everything like that. Boro have been quite good saying for me to concentrate on this season, knuckle down here and see where that takes you.
“I don’t really want any distractions in the season. I know there is speculation, but I just need to concentrate on game by game and wait for the summer to come.”
Coburn endured a frustrating start to his time at Millwall when he suffered a calf injury after scoring on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday.
He returned only to then suffer a foot fracture which forced him to miss two-and-a-half months.
“It has been really frustrating with the injuries – they have come at the worst possible times,” he said.
“I’d never really had that before in my career. It has made me learn how to deal with injuries. Especially being down here, away from everyone, the lads have been brilliant with me.
“I took a ball down the line (in the Oxford game) and the centre-back has landed on my left foot. It has twisted while he has landed on it. That was 30-35 minutes in and I carried on until half-time and then it just swelled up massively – I couldn’t play on.
“It was a straight fracture, so pretty simple to deal with. I didn’t have to have surgery – which was lucky.
“Because I got landed on I thought it might just be bruising – a bad whack – but it just wasn’t going away. The physios were a bit concerned at half-time.
“I knew the day after it was bad because I just couldn’t walk on it at all.
“The last international break came at a good time. You can look at it both ways – that I got a bit of a run back in the team and I was doing alright. But I sort of needed a rest.
“I didn’t want my body to break down and that’s why the gaffer was really careful with me in certain games. He’s been really good. Now I just want to get back into it.”
The highlight of Coburn’s season so far came in February, when he missed a late penalty at Derby only to then score the winner in the 95th minute.
“I would probably say that was the biggest part of my season,” he said. “Such a relief, more than anything, and such a massive game for us to win to keep looking up the table.
“We did penalties in training a few days before and I’ve drilled it down the middle. I’ve tried to do that in the game and I’ve scuffed it.
“I was gutted after the penalty – it wasn’t a good one – but I just knew I was going to get another chance and that I just needed to be in and around the area. Luckily I was and it went in.
“The gaffer said: ‘You’ve won the penalty and missed it – it is what it is’. He told me to keep going and that I was going to get another chance – get your mind back on the game.”
