Stoke City striker Lee Gregory set to have extra motivation on Millwall return

BY RICHARD CAWLEY

Shaun Hutchinson reckons that Lee Gregory could have extra motivation as he makes a Den return for the first time since his summer switch to Stoke City.

Millwall had made attempts to re-sign the striker on extended terms but he opted to run down his deal and leave on a free transfer.

Gregory has scored twice for a struggling Stoke side this season, including a recent 2-0 win over Fulham.

Hutchinson said: “We all know his strengths – he’s a great runner and a great team player. And he’ll be a handful here. It will be a fixture for him where he’ll want to have a good game.

“We’ll look at the video and have a good game plan.”

New Lions manager Gary Rowett, appointed on Monday, will have his first training session with the squad this morning.

And Hutchinson concedes that tightening up at the back is likely to be a priority.

Millwall have not kept a clean sheet in 10 matches.

“Under Neil Harris we were solid and keeping a lot of clean sheets,” said Hutchinson. “We went away from that – a few late goals and a few early goals.

“It’s probably something he will address. As a team we aren’t happy about it and are aware of that – we’re trying to solve that.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re scoring goals, which at the moment we are. If we’d picked up a result at Brentford we would’ve been five unbeaten and a good points total.

“You’ll hopefully see more clean sheets in the future.”

Millwall have one of the most in-form strikers in the Championship in Tom Bradshaw. The former Barnsley striker has notched five goals in the last four matches.

“I’m really, really happy for him,” said Hutchinson. “He has worked really hard through pre-season and is a top finisher.

“We’ve got to make sure we keep supplying him with the ball and giving him chances. He will put the ball in the net and win plenty of games for us.”