Millwall boss Neil Harris has said it is a ‘huge 48 hours’ for midfielder George Honeyman who is suffering with an ongoing shoulder problem.
The 29-year-old missed the 3-1 victory over Cardiff City at the weekend in a game where the Lions also lost fellow midfielders Ryan Longman and Romain Esse to injury to add to their problems. Ex-Sunderland man Honeyman is desperate to face his former club on Saturday but Harris has urged caution.
The 16th-placed Lions have had an upturn in form, winning their previous two matches against Leicester City and Cardiff to all but confirm their safety. They are now six points above the drop zone with only nine available in the remaining three games.
Harris himself has had an eventful season having been dismissed by League Two side Gillingham in October before being a surprise appointment at League One Cambridge United in December. He then stunned the U’s by leaving to take over the Lions in February this year.
Honeyman, who joined from fellow Championship side Hull City in 2022, has appeared 29 times for the Lions in all competitions. He is yet to score this season but does have two assists. The ex-Tigers man injured himself during the impressive 1-0 win over Leicester last Tuesday.
Speaking to South London News, Harris had this to say on the midfielder’s chances of featuring against his old side:
“It will be an ongoing one – it is really how the shoulder settles.”He is desperate to be involved at Sunderland, his former club, and, if he is not, to be involved in the last home game of the season.
“He is an absolute winner and desperate to play football as part of the group.
“We have to be careful with George that we are not pushing too hard that we have any longer term damage to the shoulder.
“That is a fine balance at the moment. It really will be a tight call with George on whether he is back on the training pitch on Thursday and Friday – to be involved this weekend – or it could go the other way and we call it for this season and look at getting him ready for pre-season.
“It’s a huge 48 hours for George.”
Following the game in the North East, Millwall finish with games against Plymouth Argyle and then travel to Swansea City to close out their season.
Writer’s View
Whilst it doesn’t sound too serious, it’s understandable for Harris to be cautious with one of his key men, especially with so few games remaining in the season. It could be an innocuous injury or it could be a more serious issue for Honeyman.
The 29-year-old will be itching to play against his old side though and help Millwall to finish as high up the Championship table as possible in the remaining trio of matches. It is not unheard of for managers to rule a player out and then he ‘recovers’ and appears on the teamsheet anyway. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him named on the teamsheet.
