MILLWALL have finally taken Folkestone Invicta striker Harry Smith on a one-week trial.
The 6ft 6ins frontman was due to train with the Lions at the beginning of pre-season, but a back injury temporarily put paid to that, as well as his involvement in Folkestone’s friendly matches.
The 21-year-old joined Invicta shortly before Christmas 2015, and his subsequent form has alerted a number of English Football League sides, including Millwall and Justin Edinburgh’s Gillingham.
Smith finished Folkestone’s Isthmian League Division One South championship-winning season in 2015-16 with a goal ratio of almost one a game.
Millwall have a rich history with regards to picking strikers from non-league football – most notably manager Neil Harris, who arrived from Cambridge City in 1998, and current striker Lee Gregory, who was bought by Ian Holloway in a £250,000 deal in 2014 from Halifax.
Harris said: “Harry came in from Folkestone Invicta on trial (Monday).
“He’s going to have a week with us and we’ll hopefully get him into a game. We’ve seen him play a few times and he’s been flagged up by our scouts.
“We’re looking for good, young players, especially local ones, that have got a chance to develop. It’s early days for Harry.”
Meanwhile, Harris has also spoken about two other youngsters that have appeared in the club’s opening two pre-season friendlies at Bromley and Dartford – Noah Chesmain and James Brown.
Operating at left-back and right-back respectively, the manager said that the pair were “excellent prospects”, who could feature in the first-team at some point over the coming season.
Harris said: “Livers (David Livermore) and Justin Skinner know them through the U18s/21s. They’re excellent prospects for the future. They’ve trained really well. They’re good characters and good modern-day full-backs with good engines.
“If they’re good enough, they’re old enough. If I think they’re ready to make the adjustment to first-team football, then I have no problem in playing them. But they have to compete regularly over the course of pre-season first.
“We don’t have a big squad, so we have to make sure the youngsters are ready to compete. Looking at them in pre-season is an ideal opportunity for me.”
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