MILLWALL are working hard to boost their squad before facing Reading – as boss Gary Rowett revealed Shane Ferguson could be an option in central midfield.
The Lions want to sign a midfielder with Shaun Williams suspended, and Ben Thompson and Ryan Leonard injured.
At the moment, Millwall have just Billy Mitchell (18) and Jayson Molumby (20) as options to start in midfield against the Royals.
Mitchell has yet to start a league game, but Rowett is a big admirer of the player. However, the Lions boss stressed that he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on the youngster and acknowledged that the club are too light in that area.
“You never want to leave yourself with only two midfielders, so the first thing is obviously we’re working hard to see if we can get the right type of midfielder into the building,” Rowett said.
“That’s no slight on Jayson and Billy. If I felt as though we could guarantee that they stay fit then it might be that we give Billy his opportunity. But it’s always a difficult one to pin too many hopes on someone who hasn’t played that much first-team football.
“We want to try and get another body in there. But out of all the players we got Fergie’s the one, because he’s so versatile, who could 100 per cent play in a three-man midfield. It actually in some ways might suit him better because he always plays in off the line a little bit.
“He’s such a good footballer and such an intelligent player, I’ve got no doubt he could play in a two-man midfield. He’s experienced enough, but the fact he hasn’t played loads of games in there means it’s a little bit of a risk.
“If we get to Saturday and we’ve got what we’ve got then I’ll have to make a decision based on what I think the best team is and what the best way forward is.
“Hopefully we won’t get to that point, but we’re working hard to see if we can get someone in. We were anyway but after last weekend the process accelerates.
“If we don’t, then I’m comfortable going with what I think is the best option we have. I rate young Billy, he did well against Newport. At the same time we don’t want to pin all our hopes on Billy to come in and play four, five, six games for us when it’s at a big stage of the season.”
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