Millwall boss Edwards: Incredibly busy festive fixture schedule has to be factored into training time

Joe Edwards has described Millwall’s Christmas fixture schedule as “incredibly busy” and admits that has to be factored into the time spent on the training pitch.

The Lions are winless in six Championship matches and head to Stoke City on Saturday.

Millwall follow up with a home game against QPR on Boxing Day before hosting Norwich on December 29 and then going to Bristol City on New Year’s Day.

The Lions do have a full week to prepare for a Stoke side under new management after the appointment of Steven Schumacher as head coach on Tuesday.

“I’ve been a coach for many years and I’m very hands-on, so I do really relish the time to work on the training pitch – particularly when you’re trying to give a team a bit of your own identity as well,” Edwards told the South London Press.

“I’ve really felt that has been a real challenge in the last few weeks. It’s more noticeable when things aren’t going great. The more you have a setback on the pitch, in terms of your level of performance or another disappointing result, you are even more keen to get out and get your hands dirty to try and address it.

“This week we will use it as best we can. I’d still say that in terms of the way I’d like us to play it does involve a certain kind of speed and intensity to what we want to be about. Although we have got a full week now, when you look at the squad and the players who have been playing…you still have to weigh it up that we’ve come off the back of a very hectic period.

“I’ve got to be careful I don’t go straight in at the deep end this week and keep working them too hard because we’re also about to hit a ridiculously busy fixture period.

“That festive period and how close four games are, in my opinion it is unnecessary as well. But I want them going into it fresh. As much as I’d like to hammer them with as much work as I can this week I’ve also got to be careful – so they go into those games as fresh as possible.

“It still doesn’t feel anything like a full week would in July or August (in terms of time spent on the training pitch).

“I’m looking at the schedule for January and February and I don’t think we’ve got a midweek game. So to give us four games where we’ve got two days turnaround in between each one – from Stoke to Bristol City – I get that we want games for people to go to over this period but I also say that when times are tough for people financially, and in terms of transport, there is probably only so many games you need to go to in the space of eight days.

“And then there is the quality of the product that people are seeing. You are looking at groups of players that are stretched and at higher risk of injury.

“It is just one game too many. For example, that Norwich game could easily be on a Tuesday or a Wednesday in January or February and it would be fine. It’s incredibly busy.

“What it does as well with the density of games is it adds problems when you get someone like a Casper (De Norre) out. If he was out in January or February then he is probably going to miss seven or eight games. When he is out in this period you end up missing 12 games or so – it really compounds it.”