Former Boro and Chelsea man an injury doubt for Millwall’s next match against Luton Town

George Saville missed Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifier last night due to a knee injury – but Millwall boss Gary Rowett is optimistic it is not too serious.

The Lions could have Scott Malone and Mason Bennett back available for Saturday’s home game against Luton Town.

But Saville played no part for Ireland as they lost 2-1 in Sofia to Bulgaria to end their hopes of qualifying for the finals in Qatar.

“George just felt his knee a little bit in the last couple of weeks and that was aggravated in the first Northern Ireland game,” said Rowett. “They felt it was sensible to leave him out of the next one. We’re hoping it’s not too serious, I don’t anticipate it to be too bad.

“We are looking a lot healthier squad wise, we certainly don’t need to rush people back. It allows us to make slightly better, informed choices.”

Bennett has played just 82 minutes of Championship football this season. The former Derby County attacker suffered ankle ligament damage in the pre-season friendly at Ipswich before a back problem forced him to spend more time on the sidelines.

Malone pulled up with a quad issue in the 1-0 win over Bristol City.

“Mason has been back training a little while and Scottie Malone has done a little bit of training today, we’ll see how he reacts over the next few days,” said Rowett.

“Connor [Mahoney] is not far away. He’s been doing little bits but not fully. I think he’d probably still be a doubt as to whether he’ll be available for the weekend.”