Millwall handed Honeyman boost as Bradshaw set for second scan on hamstring injury

Millwall have been handed a boost with George Honeyman standing a chance of being available for Saturday’s derby at QPR.

The former Sunderland and Hull City midfielder came off in the second half of last weekend’s Championship defeat to Middlesbrough.

But Lions head coach Joe Edwards had positive news when asked for an update on Honeyman.

He told the South London Press: “We had a bit of a scare because he felt something in his hamstring. But he had a scan and there is nothing on it – a little bit of fluid but not an injury. He’s got a chance for the weekend.

“We’re resting him for a couple of days now, day off tomorrow, and then the team trains again Thursday and hopefully George joins us with a view to being involved as normal on Saturday.”

Honeyman has played in a more central role in recent matches.

“He had been used a bit as a bit of a utility man, even before I came, playing a lot of different positions,” said Edwards. “I came only a few days before our first game and it kind of carried on.

“Me and him sat down and had a conversation about what would be best for him and where he would fit in the system I wanted to start using – particularly over that Christmas period where we settled on one formation, with the two deeper midfielders.

“Leading into Christmas I wasn’t that keen on how we were playing. We didn’t have enough good use of the ball in there and I was seeing the qualities of George in training. We spoke about trying it and he has done really well in there for us. He has got that energy – you only need to look at his physical data to see how much ground he covers every game and the engine he has got. He’s also a naturally decent footballer.

“A lot of people who watch us regularly I think would agree that some of the recent games have been some of the best football we have played in a while – he’s been at the heart of that so I’ve been really pleased.”

Striker Tom Bradshaw is set for a further scan on Friday to determine the full extent of his hamstring injury.

“At the moment we are working off the four or five-week mark when he did it, which was Thursday,” said Edwards. “The scan on Friday will really give us a better idea of where it is at.”

Brooke Norton-Cuffy, Casper De Norre and Murray Wallace were all back from injury against Boro with the first two coming on in the closing stages.

“They were all medically fit but not necessarily match fit – so none of them would’ve been able to start the game,” said Edwards. “Brooke, Murray and Casper will all be a week further down the line in terms of terms of having more match fitness.

“Hutch and Lenny are still working their way pretty gradually (back to fitness).

George Saville is back from suspension after serving his three-game ban for the red card he received against Norwich City.

“We’ve been light in numbers and Sav was starting every game, so we lost what Sav was offering us,” said Edwards. “Our bench didn’t feel particularly well-equipped to come on and impact the game.

“I spoke after the Boro game about what other teams are doing to impact the game and we have been light on our bench for a couple of games.

“The addition of someone like Sav again and Brooke, Casper and Muzza in better condition is a better place than we were last week, for sure.”