‘I’ve never questioned his commitment’ – Lions boss underlines his support for Jed Wallace

Gary Rowett has spoken out in defence of Jed Wallace after the Millwall attacker missed Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

The visitors have had two bids rejected earlier in the window for the former Portsmouth and Wolves man, who is due to be a free agent at the start of July.

Wallace’s absence led to claims on social media from some Lions supporters that he had dropped out of being available due to Steve Cooper’s side being suitors for his signatures. But Rowett praised the character of Wallace and reiterated that scan results showed a small problem.

The 27-year-old was at The Den on Saturday and is pictured above with Millwall chief executive Steve Kavanagh.

“I’ve seen some of the comments but I’ve also seen the scan results – there is some damage in there,” Rowett told the South London Press. “I don’t think it is major, which is good news. But there is certainly something there which meant that he was unavailable for the game. I know it looks slightly suspicious from everyone’s perspective, me leaving him out of the squad. People put two and two together and come up with five.

“But what I would say is that I’ve never ever questioned Jed’s commitment and how much he wants to work hard in a Millwall shirt. And certainly his performances have shown that over a long period of time.

“That’s all we can really say on the matter. It’s been well-documented that there has been interest and it’s been well-documented that he’s out of contract at the end of the season but we have to try and be fair to players. The fairest I can be is that he has got an injury and my belief is that Jed will pull a Millwall shirt on again and show that commitment at some point in the future.”

Wallace responded to one fan on Twitter who had claimed he refused to play.

“I’ve played over 200 games for Millwall & never took that for granted,” he tweeted. “Would never ever refuse to play, I’ve just had a minor setback on my injury. I’m not a robot these things happen and I’m doing all I can to get back to playing ASAP. Thank you.”