Millwall v Watford team news with 10 doubts and 7 outs as Alex Neil handed fresh concern

Millwall will be grateful for the extra days of rest over the weekend following their heartbreaking Carabao Cup defeat to Premier League side Crystal Palace on penalties.

Alex Neil was outspoken with his pride for the side following that match with the Championship outfit struggling with injuries at the moment. Several first team players could make their return against Watford on Monday evening.

The visitors have issues of their own as they look for just a second win of the league season following two draws and a defeat. Here’s your Millwall v Watford team news.

Millwall team news

Millwall boss Alex Neil has somewhat of an injury crisis on his hands at The Den. Zak Lovelace and Macaulay Langstaff were reported to have returned to training ahead of the cup match against Crystal Palace but still missed out against the Premier League outfit.

Luke Jensen and Danny McNamara are long-term absentees for the Lions with Billy Mitchell, Femi Azeez, Casper De Norre and Alfie Doughty all also in the treatment room. Ahead of Crystal Palace, Neil said: “Those lads [Langstaff and Lovelace] are certainly back in training just now. They’re making good progress, and we’ll see how the others are come the end of the week.”

However, the injury list got even longer after the defeat to Crystal Palace. Goalkeeper Max Crocombe picked up a problem in the warm-up and Neil hinted at problems for Massimo Luongo and Luke Cundle, neither of whom were in the squad at Selhurst Park.

Speaking to the club media channel, Neil said: “Disappointed we didn’t win the game and get through because I thought the performance over the 90 minutes was super. What we need to bear in mind is we lost a goalkeeper before the game in the warm-up, we lost Dan Kelly after 20 minutes, we lost Mass and Luke from the squad after the last game.

“We made eight changes, got a lot of young lads and some of them can’t even speak English at the moment. To come here and put that level of performance on and be as good, if not at times a little bit better, I couldn’t be any more proud. When you talk about resilience and adversity, things going on but not feeling sorry for yourself and getting on with it, that’s what we did and I couldn’t be any prouder.”

Neil has since provided a further update, as per NewsAtDen on Thursday. When asked who could be fit enough to face Watford, he said: “I think the likes of Luke Cundle and Massimo Luongo. The reason I was a little bit vague about them after the game is the fact that I’m unsure where it’s going to land. We didn’t want to take any risk for them in the game against Palace, but they’re not definitely out for the Watford game.

Doubts - Zak Lovelace, Macaulay Langstaff, Casper de Norre, Max Crocombe, Massimo Luongo, Luke Cundle. Outs - Luke Jensen, Danny McNamara, Billy Mitchell, Femi Azeez, Alfie Doughty.

Watford team news

Watford midfielder Imrân Louza is eligible to face Millwall once again having served the third match of his suspension against Blackburn Rovers last time out. Pierre Dwomoh has been another absence in the centre of the park but was said to be progressing well ahead of the meeting with Rovers, he nonetheless missed out from the matchday squad. Summer signing Nampalys Mendy is in a similar position.

Caleb Wiley is also nearing a return following an abductor muscle problem with the American full-back back in first team training last week. Jeremy Ngakia remains a doubt due to a groin injury with Jack Grieves sidelined with a knee problem.

Giorgi Chakvetadze is also back in training but a little further off a return following a ‘complex foot issue’. He had said: “It’s a stress fracture in the toe. It is difficult when you don’t play for four or five months and it takes time to recover, but I’m sure I’ll be back soon.

“The staff are with me, and we are doing everything together. I do a lot of gym work to keep my fitness every day and also some physio treatment.”

Doubts - Pierre Dwomoh, Nampalys Mendy, Caleb Wiley, Jeremy Ngakia. Outs - Jack Grieves, Giorgi Chakvetadze.

In other news, New Championship supercomputer predicts where QPR, Millwall and Charlton Athletic will finish.