Millwall boss not ruling out midfield transfer window addition – but feels Lions can ‘cope’ with absence of Billy Mitchell

Millwall head coach Neil Harris believes there are options in his squad which can help cover the absence of Billy Mitchell.

The 23-year-old midfielder was a fixture of the Lions side when Harris replaced Joe Edwards in February.

But Mitchell has torn a quad muscle and is not expected to be back until the Championship season has started.

Asked if he felt Mitchell’s absence would mean Millwall looking at adding in that area during the transfer window, Harris said: “We feel if we lose a couple of players in any position we will cope because that goes back to the spirit in the camp and players putting the team before themselves.

“G (George Honeyman) can play various positions. He has played as a six or an eight quite a bit in pre-season but he is very versatile and able to play as a 10 or wide as well.

“Ryan Leonard can also play in there, even if it might not be his favoured position any more. We might add in the transfer window in that position – a different sort of player possibly to what we have in the building.

“Billy is not going to be available for Watford but we hope he is not too far behind the rest of the group when we get to that game. If we have to build him in slowly, in terms of his minutes, then so be it.”

Shaun Hutchinson rejoined the Lions last week.

“He has not trained anywhere else so naturally he is behind (in terms of fitness),” said Harris. “We’ve signed him, as club captain, to be here for the season. Whether he is fit and available for the first game of the season, against Watford, we’ll have to wait and see.”