Millwall handed needed injury boost ahead of Swansea City and Coventry City

Millwall have been handed a much needed fitness boost ahead of the trip to Swansea City this weekend with Alex Neil appearing to see light at the end of an injury crisis tunnel.

The Lions picked up an important 1-0 win over Watford at Vicarage Road last weekend despite several first team players being sidelined with injuries. Millwall recorded a third win of the season, lifting them to 10th in the second tier table.

Neil now prepares to take on 11th place Swansea City in an early six-pointer before a quick return to action at The Den next Wednesday against Coventry City. Millwall are set to have Billy Mitchell back in the matchday squad this weekend as he makes progress from his quad problem.

Millwall handed injury boost

The 24-year-old picked up the problem when making a pass against Middlesbrough last month and hasn’t been in action since, missing matches against Sheffield United, Wrexham, Charlton Athletic and the Hornets in the league. The defensive midfielder had started both fixtures against Norwich City and Boro to begin the season.

In an update following the Watford match, as relayed by Southwark News, Neil confirmed a potential injury boost against Swansea City. When asked if Mitchell could be available for the trip to Wales, he said: “Yeah, maybe he’ll be on the bench at that point. A lot of the lads are in training. It’s actually quite frustrating just now because I’ve got Femi [Azeez] training, I’ve got Billy training. There’s a lot back training. It’s just they’re not quite ready to be in matchday squads.

“Billy will probably make the squad at the weekend and touch wood we haven’t got any more injuries tonight. The rest of them should be okay as well that played tonight.”

Emakhu illness update

It’s welcome news for Millwall with the injury crisis taking its toll on Neil’s plans. Against Watford, the Millwall boss confirmed that Aidomo Emakhu played on after ‘being sick’ at half-time due to the squad’s fitness issues.

The Lions boss wanted to turn to Southampton loanee Will Smallbone but has been managing the midfielder’s game time because of a calf injury. Speaking about the options available at Vicarage Road, he said: “We’ve got young Derek [Mazuo-Sacko] who’s just come in, and we’ve had to rely on to play games. We’ve got [Thierno] Ballo who’s just come in to play games. Aidomo [Emakhu] was being sick at half-time, so we had to get him through fifteen minutes to try and take him off, because Will [Smallbone] and Macca are only really ready to do thirty minutes each. So a few bits to juggle, kind of difficult bits.”

In other news, 'Thankfully' - Alex Neil names player's 'great' moment during Millwall vs Watford - and it wasn't the goal.