JOE Edwards believes Millwall’s new striker Michael Obafemi could be “hard to stop” when he gets going – but revealed he won’t be fit enough to start tomorrow.
The 23-year-old joined on loan from Burnley on Tuesday and is the Lions’ second January addition following the loan acquisition of Japhet Tanganga from Tottenham Hotspur.
If Obafemi does make his debut against Preston North End, it will have to come from bench with Edwards explaining that a lack of minutes recently for the Irish international means he won’t be able to make the line-up.
Asked about the new signing at his pre-match press conference, Edwards said: “He comes to us in a bit of a funny position where he’s off the back of an injury he had in the early part of the season. And Burnley have just recently had a 10 day break as part of the Premier League break.
“So he won’t be ready to start the game on Saturday so now it will be a case of carefully managing him. It’s the same conversation we’ve had about Japhet Tanganga. They’re players who are coming without loads of match minutes under their belt this season. We have to carefully integrate them and then manage them as we go but certainly he can be a massive addition and offer huge impact in games for us.”
Edwards has repeatedly described his new striker as “explosive” and was asked to explain further what he meant.
He told reporters: “He’s got that natural speed where he can turn, get away and threaten in behind, something I spoke about after the QPR game that we didn’t do anywhere near enough. And when the game’s tighter and around the box he’s got that speed to get away from people from a standing start which is a rare skill. It’s something that, when players are in form, is hard to stop.”
Obafemi will soon be fighting for a starting spot against fellow strikers Kevin Nisbet and Tom Bradshaw once the latter returns from injury.
On when Bradshaw could be back from his hamstring issue, Edwards said: “He is aiming to rejoin training in some capacity next week. Probably in the back end of the week which would mean it’s very unlikely that he’d be involved in the Hull game. If he could, it would be from the bench but then we’ve got Coventry as a target to get him involved.
“With the nature of the injury, it will be a case of reintegrating and building back up because he’s had a muscle injury. So it won’t be a case of as soon as he’s done a couple days’ training, he’s back in the starting line-up and playing big minutes. But now we’ve got that added cover up there and we can kind of rotate around.”
Following Aidomo Emakhu’s injury set-back this week, Edwards said the Coventry game on Sunday 11 February was also the date of when he realistically hoped the 20-year-old would return.
On club captain Shaun Hutchinson, whose last kick of the ball in a Millwall shirt was his New Year’s Day winner at Bristol City, Edwards said: “Hutch is looking to rejoin training next week as well, in some capacity, so probably a similar story [to Bradshaw and Emakhu]. It’s one thing rejoining the group in modified sessions but then it’s that build-up of getting back into match readiness.
“So Shaun won’t be available to be considered for the Hull game, Coventry will be tricky, but after that, when the fixtures start coming thick and fast again, that little period between Coventry, Ipswich and beyond there, Shaun will be aiming around that week I’d imagine.”
Bradshaw, Emakhu, Hutchinson and Ryan Leonard will be the Millwall players missing for tomorrow’s game.
In a busy virtual press conference, the Lions head coach was also quizzed on if the Obafemi signing concluded Millwall’s business for the month.
He said: “There could potentially be one possibly two more next week. If [Obafemi and Tanganga] were the only two we got done, I’d be relatively happy.”
On the two new boys, Edwards said he believed they had integrated well into the Millwall dressing room. It helps that the Lions’ players and staff are currently involved in an in-house darts competition with Obafemi knocking out one club analyst days after his arrival before falling at the hands of goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski.
Asked about getting the new boys involved with the squad, Edwards said: “It’s felt like a group effort. I know Michael knew Danny McNamara [from Republic of Ireland under-21 duty] so I saw them having a chat on day one and they were together a lot in the canteen. Michael’s come in and is a bright, lively character. If you saw Michael around the group, you would think he’s been here longer than three days.
“Japh’s really quiet, just goes about his business very professionally at the moment.
“We’ve got a big darts competition going on at the moment with all staff and players at the training ground. Michael was straight into that and knocked out Dan our analyst, so he was progressing well. But he’s just been knocked out by Bart. Japh chose not to be involved with that.
“We’ve still got plenty to go. It’s an ongoing thing.”