Millwall manager reveals one player who definitely will start EFL Cup tie against Burnley

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has confirmed that Connor Mahoney will start tomorrow night’s EFL Cup tie against Burnley.

The winners of the third round match will be at home to either Manchester City or Bournemouth.

And City boss Pep Guardiola, speaking after their 3-1 Premier League victory over Wolves last night, said he would pick “mostly players from the academy” for their meeting with the Cherries on Thursday evening.

Rowett has pointed out there is next to no financial gain for progressing in the competition. The matches so far have been behind closed doors – and that is unlikely to change as the government seeks to clamp down on a rise in Covid-19 cases.

“It is such a difficult one this season because there are going to be so many games – so the more progress you make the more games you’ve got,” said the Lions chief.

“We’re playing in the cup just to get through – there are no financial benefits for the club, no real prize money in terms of advancing.

“It’s still a competition we want to do well in and see where we can get to. But we’ve got to make sensible decisions on players who haven’t played and also players who will probably get asked to play an awful lot this season. We can’t really risk some of them.”

Mahoney, 23, scored in Millwall’s 3-1 win over Cheltenham earlier this month in the EFL Cup.

Ben Thompson, who did not make the matchday 18 for Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Rotherham United, also looks likely to feature.

Others likely to get game time include Shane Ferguson and Matt Smith.

On-loan Tottenham striker Troy Parrott is also set to be available after a number of weeks sidelined with a quad injury.

Rowett said: “We’ve mixed it up in the last two rounds and the players have performed really well. The likes of Connor will 100 per cent start and some others along with that.

“Some players won’t have started in the league but will still have started more games than players who have started in the league.

“We’ve got to give players a chance to go and perform. Each game is just as important as the last game.”

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