GARY Rowett’s team selection against Swansea City on Boxing Day is likely to be conditioned by how Covid-19 has affected some players and how much training they have been able to do in their periods of self-isolation.
Millwall have players coming back available to train at the club at different times depending on when they tested positive.
Rowett revealed late last week that positive cases in the first team, staff and under-23s were well into double-figures. Millwall wouldn’t have been able to field a senior team against Preston and that game scheduled for last Saturday was postponed.
On Tuesday, Rowett had fewer than 10 senior players to work with at the training ground, which reopened the day before.
Millwall had eight players who had Covid this month last year leading to their games against Bournemouth on December 26 and Watford three days later being postponed.
Five of those players started against Coventry on January 2 and Millwall appeared to lack energy in that 2-1 defeat.
Millwall closed their training ground late last week to try to halt the spread of the virus. As during the first lockdown in 2020, Rowett, his staff and the sports science department had to devise training and fitness programmes for the squad.
Lions chief executive Steve Kavanagh said “a small percentage [of players] are experiencing any symptoms at all and of those who are they are mild”.
Rowett was asked about preparations ahead of this Sunday’s game.
“We’re quite experienced in that now, unfortunately, in difficult preparations because we’ve had it before,” Rowett told NewsAtDen.
“It was around January with the Coventry game when we had players coming back from Covid and clearly there was a physical deficiency in the performance and in the players.
“You’ve got certain players that will have had symptoms and not have been able to do too much training remotely. Some players will be able to do a little bit of training and perhaps be in a better position with no symptoms.
“It’s just a blend, you have to take it day by day and prepare the ones that are ready and okay and can get that training volume.
“To be honest, you probably have to lean towards those players more than the ones that have had Covid and will have been out for 10 days, because at least you know physically what you’re going to get.
“It is a challenge, it is a massive disruption. But we’re very fortunate in football so I’m always mindful of whinging too much about it.
“We’ll get on with it and we’ll try to find the right solutions.”
Image: Millwall FC