ADAM Barrett fears Joe Bryan could be missing until at least December after he picked up a groin injury last month.
The full-back limped off during the 2-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers and Barrett said after the draw at Watford on Saturday that he believed the 30-year-old could be missing for a few weeks.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference yesterday, Millwall’s caretaker manager said the Lions could be without Bryan for four to six weeks.
He said: “I think with Joe it’s a difficult one. There were a few complications within the scan, nothing too serious, but I think he’s going to be out for a good four to six weeks. That’s not definite but at the moment that’s probably the time scale we’re looking at from the injury.”
In better news for Millwall, both Shaun Hutchinson and Ryan Leonard have managed to return to first-team training this week.
Club captain Hutchinson has been missing since September’s draw at Birmingham City while Ryan Leonard picked up a knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Hull City last month.
Duncan Watmore, who also last played in that game, did not make it to training and will not be available to face Southampton on Saturday.
Barrett added: “Unfortunately Duncan’s not quite ready yet so I don’t expect Duncan to be with us at the weekend. Shaun and Ryan have returned to full training with the lads so that’s a great boost for us.
“Obviously Shaun’s been out two and a half months and Ryan’s been out three or four weeks so are they fully match fit? No. But it’s nice to have them back in the group and get a full week’s training under them and come back into contention for the weekend which is great and hopefully they can stay fit now and we can move forward with them.”
Just as interesting as to which players are available for the game is what formation the caretaker boss chooses to deploy. Barrett has arguably played three different systems across his three games in charge so far and was asked by reporters if he has a preferred formation.
He said: “Yeah of course. I think you have to look at what players you’ve got for a start as there are certain ideas I would like to play of course but you have to have the right personnel to do that.
“But yeah I have my ideal way of how I would like to play but it’s very hard to chuck that in straight away. We’ve recruited, previously, at the football club for a certain way but I think you can see changes. There’s been lots of positives in the game that I’ve been delighted with and what we have to try and do now is keep working on them and getting better at it.
“And the better we get at it, the more understanding the players have and then hopefully as a team you’ll be better and stronger at it, and that’s what I’m looking to do.”