SHAUN Hutchinson could feature for Millwall’s under-23s in their Professional Development League fixture against Watford at The Den on Friday.
Hutchinson has missed the last eight Championship games since injuring his knee in the Lions’ 2-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on August 22.
Millwall vice-captain Hutchinson could be in contention to face Reading after the international break.
“It’s early days but he’s back training with the group so if he gets through the rigours of the next 10 days – and we’ve got an under-23s game on Friday that hopefully he’ll take part in – then we’ll assess him whether he’s going to be fit enough to take part at Reading,” Lions boss Neil Harris said.
“He’s back in the group which is a huge positive and a lift for everybody.
“There might be a couple of other players that need come minutes [against Watford]. It’s an opportunity for players fitness-wise and to find some rhythm.”
Harris and his squad were back on the training pitch at Calmont Road on Tuesday morning, after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa gave them the perfect boost going into the break.
Harris said: “I had some time to reflect on Saturday and watch the game back and it wasn’t necessarily a vintage performance packed with quality and chances, it was a relentless, ruthless Millwall performance at The Den that gave a team that were a little bit under fire no room to breathe at all.
“We played with real passion and purpose and desire, and ultimately deserved the points. That was built off the back of Wednesday night at Forest when we dominated the game. From afar some would look and think, ‘nicked a point at the end’. Well we didn’t, we should have had three points.
“That was built on hard work on the training pitch, honest assessments of individuals and the group performances, and it was small steps. We got beaten last minute against Sheffield United but there were a lot of positives in that game that we used. At West Brom we got beaten but it was a strong performance.
“We’ve used little bits of momentum to drive us forward. We can certainly carry it through the international break and really attack a big period when we get back.”
*Millwall’s fixture against Watford this week kicks off at 1.30pm.
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