Former Crystal Palace midfielder set to be fit for Sheffield Wednesday’s Den date
Barry Bannan is confident he will be fit for tomorrow’s match at The Den – as Sheffield Wednesday look to maintain their position at the Championship summit.
It is early days but interim manager Lee Bullen, installed after Steve Bruce’s move to Newcastle United, has seen his Owls side win 3-1 at Reading and follow up with a 2-0 victory over Barnsley at Hillsborough. Tuesday’s League Cup tie against crisis club Bury was postponed.
It means that Wednesday have had a clear week to approach their visit to SE16.
Former Crystal Palace midfielder Bannan has long been a leading light for the Yorkshire outfit but missed the fixture against the Tykes after tweaking his hamstring in training.
“Barry is very confident he can be involved on Saturday,” said Bullen. “But one thing I won’t do is take chances. We have got our fingers crossed but let’s see what happens.”
Wednesday covered Bannan’s absence by moving Adam Reach into a central role and handing a debut to Jacob Murphy, who has arrived on a season-long loan from Newcastle. The latter is likely to be the one to make way to accommodate the Scottish playmaker’s return.
Goalkeeper Kieron Westwood has served his ban after being dismissed on the opening day and should replace Cameron Dawson.
Defender Dominic Iorfa, sent off at Preston in April, is also available after suspension.
Wednesday have been under a ‘soft’ transfer embargo this summer. They had earmarked Chris Hughton to replace Bruce but could not persuade the ex-Brighton boss to make a quick return to management. Tony Pulis is another the Owls hierarchy have an interest in.
Bullen, who has played for the club and was assistant to Carlos Carvalhal, is in his third stint as caretaker and an impressive start to the season has slowed the urgency of their search.
“They have switched to a 4-3-3,” said Dom Howson, who covers Wednesday for The Star. “Over the years they have pretty much been a 4-4-2 team under Carvalhal and Bruce.
“Kadeem Harris and Murphy on the wings have made a huge difference with their pace and ability to quickly turn defence into attack.
“Kieran Lee has been injured for around 18 months but he has started the first two matches and been a big plus.”
Only Middlesbrough (13) have had more shots on target than Wednesday (12). Only three clubs have had less than Millwall (five) – Birmingham, Stoke (both four) and Blackburn (two).
The Owls are fifth-highest for chances created (21). The hosts have managed 13 – the same as Charlton and Luton. Birmingham (11) are at the bottom of that table.
But we all know that those kind of stats matter little to the Lions, who have certainly started the campaign with a confident air.
The early signs are that Harris has that increase in competition that was lacking at times in the 2018-19 campaign.
Matt Smith looks almost certain to lead the Millwall attack this weekend but Aiden O’Brien and Tom Bradshaw both netted in the EFL Cup win at West Brom.
There have been a couple of mini-Millwall milestones, Shaun Williams made his 200th Football League appearance for the club in Saturday’s match at The Hawthorns.
Centre-back Shaun Hutchinson clocked up 100 games in all competitions for Millwall when he started the midweek return trip to face the Baggies.