Millwall boss Gary Rowett has his say on winger Tyler Burey training with the club’s U21s

Millwall manager Gary Rowett has explained his stance on Tyler Burey, with the 22-year-old training with the club’s U21 players.

Oxford United have been keen on the former AFC Wimbledon winger.

Burey did not feature in Saturday’s pre-season friendly win at Gillingham.

“It’s quite straight forward when a player and a club both feel it is perhaps the right time for them to potentially move on – I believe there are opportunities for Tyler to do that,” Rowett told the South London Press. “As a manager you are thinking ‘do I spend all summer and all pre-season with him in my plans when the likelihood is that he’s not going to be here?’.

“We’ve tried to make it quite clear that we’re going to move forward with the squad we’re working with and unfortunately for Tyler that means, for now, he is with the U21s.

“If the window comes and goes and he doesn’t move anywhere then of course that’s a different conversation, isn’t it? Because he is a good player who has worked very hard to get to where he is. But after two-and-a-bit years of being an impact player, I think he wants more than that. He’s made it clear he wants to go and play. Therefore there is no point in us involving him in the plans pre-season. That’s really where it is.

“I think it suits both parties, for him to go and his career going elsewhere. As and when an opportunity comes up that is right, we will see.

“If the season starts tomorrow, the window shuts and Tyler doesn’t go to a club that he sees as the next stage of his career then we’ll assess it then. But I think it’s sensible to give some of the other young players a chance. That will allow Romain (Esse) to play a little further forward tomorrow (at Sutton United) and allow the likes of Niino (Adom-Malaki) to come into the squad and we’ve got Chin (Okoli) – other good young players. We can’t just keep everyone fit. We need to move forward and work with the squad we feel we will have.”