‘We can leave that area in this transfer window’ – Millwall boss reacts to improved return date for Arsenal loanee

Millwall manager Gary Rowett is not expecting to bring in a centre-back during the current transfer window after good news on Daniel Ballard’s return date.

The Arsenal loanee has been out since undergoing knee surgery at the start of December.

But we broke the news that Ballard was expected back sooner than initially expected.

Rowett told the South London Press: “We felt as though Lenny and Dan Ballard would be the end of Feb, so as a manager you start thinking is that going to be mid-March before they are back training? Which isn’t that much good to you when you’re trying to plan in a window.

“But it looks like Lenny is probably similar to that or a little bit ahead. But Dan looks like he is going to be back on either the seventh or eighth of February. We’ll obviously assess that right up until the end of the window and make sure he is making good progress and had no setbacks. It’s always a tricky one if he comes back and doesn’t quite enter back into training pain free.

“The fact he is coming back a week after the window shuts means it’s probably an area we can leave and see if he comes back fine.

“It’s good news. We’ve stayed in touch with Dan all the way through and he is pretty keen to get back and playing games.”