MILLWALL welcome back midfielder George Saville and striker Benik Afobe for their Championship clash against Huddersfield Town this Saturday.
Saville was suspended for the win over Stoke City last weekend while Afobe couldn’t play against his parent club.
But as has so often happened this season, when Gary Rowett has players returning there are more heading in the direction of the treatment room.
George Evans – who started against the Potters with a protective cast on the hand he broke at Sheffield United the previous Tuesday – pulled his calf last weekend. He is set to miss the fixture and could be out until the international break, which comes after this game and home tests against Reading and Derby.
Mason Bennett, meanwhile, just can’t seem to get going this campaign. He has started just once this season in five appearances and in the seven minutes he was on the pitch against the Blades he took a blow to the knee which ruled him out of the Stoke game.
Bennett has been training this week and Rowett will make a late decision on whether to involve the attacker.
Saville will likely go straight back into the side. Rowett praised Billy Mitchell for his performance against Stoke, and the Lions boss has a tough choice who to play beside Saville, with Maikel Kieftenbeld and Ryan Leonard the other options, the latter if Danny McNamara returns at right wing-back.
“We’ve got some good midfielders, different types of players. Having Sav back available is obviously a big one for us,” Rowett said.
“As is having Benik available, it’s just those extra options that can make you make good decisions during the game and late in the game.
“We’ll see what we feel we need to go with but certainly Billy didn’t do himself any harm coming into the team the last game.”
Tom Bradshaw will be confident of keeping his starting spot after his match-winning brace against the Potters.
Millwall have been hit with a number of injuries this season, but have still managed to position themselves in the fight for the top six heading into November.
“We’ve spoken about the squad depth this year, it’s better than we’ve had for a while since we’ve been here,” Rowett said.
“It’s important to have those options where if someone’s run themselves into the ground on a Wednesday night you’d rather be able to have someone else fresh for the Saturday. That’s just how it works, particularly in those forward areas.
“Bradders has taken his opportunity but we’ve got three forward positions up for grabs and the more options we have the better chance we’ll have of winning games.”
Millwall and Huddersfield are two of seven teams on 21 points from fifth to 11th in the Championship table.
The Terriers saw their four-game unbeaten run ended by Bournemouth last Saturday, Carlos Corberan’s side losing 3-0 away from home.
Possible Millwall starting XI: Bialkowski; Leonard, Ballard, Hutchinson, Cooper, Malone; Mitchell, Saville; J Wallace, Bradshaw, Ojo.
Match odds: Huddersfield 6/4 Draw 12/5 Millwall 2/1
Last meeting: Championship (January 20, 2021): Huddersfield 0-1 Millwall (Malone 4’)
Millwall: 3-4-1-2: Bialkowski; Leonard, Hutchinson, Cooper; McNamara (Romeo, 75), Woods, Williams (Ferguson, 75), Malone; Thompson; J Wallace (Bradshaw, 75), Bödvarsson (Zohore, 76).
Image: Millwall FC