NEIL Harris is confident Millwall have used the international break to their advantage as he looks to sharpen up his squad for the run-in.
Eight games remain in the Championship season and the Lions’ fate is still far from certain given the congested nature of the bottom half of the league.
The March break gives clubs one last chance to get a sustained period on the training pitch before going full pelt to the end of the season.
Millwall used the time to have a behind closed doors friendly against Crystal Palace away at their training ground and organise a game between the first team and under-21s. They also focused on individual work for players not on international duty.
Harris told NewsAtDen: “We gave the players two days off after Leeds just to recuperate and it gave the staff a little bit of reflection and downtime as well.
“Then we came in for a block of work over three days and a mix between players that have played a lot of minutes having less time on the training pitch and players that haven’t played a lot of minutes having a lot of time on the training pitch and more focus on helping them to develop a bit closer to the team and making sure we hit the training loads we need to.
“International breaks can be tough and some players need it for downtime and recovery time physically and some need it for stimulation time to really push the boundaries. So it’s making sure everyone in the group gets what they need.
“And we’re back in as a full group [yesterday] minus international players and starting to prepare for West Brom. When you have the week after Leeds and no game on the weekend, there’s no real focus. So we had to make sure training becomes more individualised than a collective.”
On the behind closed doors games, Harris added: “We went over to play Palace and it was really good, excellent exercise. Really pleased for the lads who went. 60 minutes, very competitive game, two very strong sides. Everybody that needed to take part in the game did take part and we got a chance to see a few young players as well. It was excellent.
“The game was all about what the individual needs. We took 11 players who needed match minutes and needed to get into some rhythm and flow. And we also had a behind closed door game here of first-team versus under-21 players. So basically every professional player and some of the under-18s lads come and joined in as well.
“Everyone who needed to get in front of me but also needed minutes got them in some shape or form.”