Millwall boss explains why Kenneth Zohore’s loan spell cut short after striker didn’t feature at Coventry

BY ALEX GRACE

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has explained his decision to allow Kenneth Zohore to return to West Bromwich Albion ahead of schedule.

The striker’s time in SE16 was ravaged by injury, limiting him to just 17 appearances.

Speaking after Saturday’s 6-1 defeat at Coventry, Rowett said: “I didn’t see the point in putting Ken on for 15, 20 minutes. I didn’t think that would be respectful.”

“Woodsy [Ryan Woods] has been a far bigger part of the group in terms of games, so he played today. Sometimes you’re trying to get players on the pitch who haven’t had game time. You are hoping we get the result on the back of it.”

Zohore scored his first goal for the Lions in the 2-0 win at Preston in October but would miss the next 12 games with a calf injury. He scored in victories over Boreham Wood in the FA Cup and Sheffield Wednesday in the league but two further injuries have limited his involvement further.

Rowett opted to bring Tyler Burey off the bench in the 69th minute to replace Tom Bradshaw for the final 20 minutes at St Andrews.

He said: “I just wanted to give him a bit of an extended run out to see what he can do. ”

“Whilst I was a little bit disappointed with the impact of our subs I was also disappointed with the impact of the players that started.”