Chris Lines smashed home a 25-yard screamer to seal Bristol Rovers' victory – then explained how he is relishing a more attacking role this term.

And the midfielder believes Rickie Lambert's early-season departure from Bristol Rovers might have opened a few more doors for him when it comes to goalscoring opportunities.

Lambert netted 29 times for the Pirates last term, but his tendency to drop deep looking for the ball sometimes stifled those in midfield from making forward runs.

Now Lines has netted in successive League One outings and believes he is finding the freedom to express his attacking abilities more fully following the Scouse marksman's £1 million move to Southampton.

Any striker would certainly have been proud of the 63rd-minute shot the Bristolian unleashed to give the home side a two-goal cushion they never looked like relinquishing.

Good work by the impressive Jeff Hughes had produced a cross which was headed out by Millwall's defence. But Lines took one touch before smashing home a tremendous right-foot shot which flashed high into the net to secure a well-deserved victory.

"I caught it sweetly on the half-volley and knew when I hit it that it had a chance of going in. The next thing I knew it was hitting the back of the net and I was off celebrating," said Lines.

"I said at the start of the season I was going to try and get more goals this time and that's two for me now, so hopefully more will follow."

"With Lambo gone, the chance is there for me to get forward more and I'm finding spaces to run into that maybe weren't there for me before. In some ways maybe I'm doing some of the things he used to.

"I'm enjoying getting forward more and it's something I want to do over the rest of the season.

"Our two strikers are quite small so sometimes a run from midfield in behind the defence can help.

"We are scoring goals from all over the pitch at the moment and that's good for everyone."

Millwall have now lost on nine of their last 10 visits to Rovers, and reversing that trend was always going to be a big ask given the fact the Lions were missing no less than 10 of their first-team squad because of injuries.

But that is taking nothing away from the home side, who did just what was needed to put their two-game losing streak behind them and reinforce the early-season optimism around the Memorial Stadium.

The Pirates started brightly, forcing a string of corners in the opening minutes, and always looked likely victors once Hughes fired them in front with a 26th-minute penalty.

The Northern Irishman had won the spot kick himself, blocking a clearance and then darting forwards before being clipped by Lions skipper Andy Frampton. Although keeper David Forde got a hand to his strike, he couldn't keep it out of the net.

Hughes, a danger for much of the afternoon, could have got on the scoresheet earlier. But after an astute through ball from Lines, the winger was only denied by a last-ditch tackle from striker Gary Alexander, who was back helping out the visitors' beleaguered defence.

Millwall's only opportunity of the opening period arrived after nine minutes when Danny Schofield, making his debut after signing from Yeovil, crossed from the right and Ashley Grimes got in a header which was saved fairly comfortably by Rovers' own debutant Mikkel Anderson.

The young Danish keeper looked assured in everything he did, although more testing games lie ahead.

Millwall saw Alexander depart with an ankle injury early in the second half, but conjured up their best opportunity of the game a few minutes later.

Anderson made a fine one-handed save to his right to push away a goalbound shot from Grimes, then was slightly fortunate to see a header from Alan Dunne blocked almost on the goal-line. But any hopes of a comeback from the Londoners were extinguished once Lines unleashed his scorcher.

"I think it put the game beyond reach and came at a good time, because Millwall were just starting to have a little spell of pressure. We could have gone on and scored more after that," he said.

The winning margin could have been bigger, for Darryl Duffy had finished weakly early in the second period and Bristol Rovers had further chances to increase their lead during the final 10 minutes. Aaron Lescott was denied by Forde as he tried to lob the keeper, while Hughes saw a shot from 10 yards deflected wide before drilling another attempt across the face of goal after good work by substitute Dominic Blizzard.

"I don't really think Millwall looked like scoring and I thought we defended brilliantly. That was our third clean sheet in six games," added Lines. "We've had an excellent start and Lennie Lawrence said in the dressing room afterwards that if we are still up there after 10 games, that's the stage of the season that the table doesn't lie."