Millwall head coach Neil Harris has confirmed that defender Murray Wallace will miss the fixture away at his former club Huddersfield Town at the weekend.
The Lions suffered a crushing blow on Easter Monday at the AESSEAL New York Stadium as Harris’ men were beaten 2-1 by bottom-of-the-league Rotherham United. Having equalised so late in the game through Ryan Longman, the Millers sealed all three points when Charlie Wyke stuck the ball in the back of the net four minutes from time.
A win would have lifted Millwall into 16th place in the Championship table, seven points clear of the bottom three with six games remaining which could have all but ended talk of a relegation to League One. Now, the London outfit remain four points above the drop zone with some tricky fixtures on the horizon.
On Monday at Rotherham, Harris chose to start Murray Wallace at left-back, tasked with marking Femi Seriki on that side. Unfortunately, in the 24th minute, the Scottish fullback had to come off the pitch and was replaced by Danny McNamara.
Millwall are currently preparing to face Wallace’s old club Huddersfield Town this Saturday, a game that could prove pivotal in the relegation battle as the Terriers have the chance to move within a point of the Lions.
Speaking to the South London Press ahead of the fixture, Millwall manager Harris confirmed that the 31-year-old will likely be absent from the squad this weekend, describing it as a “real blow” for the player.
“I picked him on Monday to play at Rotherham because I felt he was pivotal to the game and what the game stood for,” Harris said.
“I was gutted for him. He was really upset in himself about coming off – I don’t remember over probably Muzza’s 400 or 500-odd game career that he has come off many times with injury.
“It is a real blow for Murray Wallace to come off in a game of football – you know something isn’t quite right,” he continued.
“Murray is going to be scanned and we’ll await the results. How likely he is for the weekend, it’s very difficult to come off and then be ready for the following weekend.
“I don’t expect to see Murray being involved this weekend.”
Writer’s View
Murray is a player with massive experience and will be missed from the squad this week in what is such an important game for the club so late in the campaign. His injury came at a really bad time and his absence may even extend beyond the week.
Nevertheless, given recent results under Harris, this Millwall team are more than capable of producing a solid performance at the back and coming away with all three points against a struggling Huddersfield. The Lions don’t need to win, but they can’t lose either.
Deputy Head of Writing
