Alex Neil confirms double Millwall boost ahead of Blackburn Rovers | OneFootball

Alex Neil will be set to welcome back a couple of important names ahead of Saturday's clash

Alex Neil will be able to welcome back Ryan Leonard and Billy Mitchell from injury for Millwall's Saturday lunchtime matchup with Blackburn Rovers.

However, Southwark News has reported that the Lions boss has admitted that how big a part they play in the trip to Ewood Park will be a decision that will be made over the coming day.

Millwall, like most of the other teams in the Championship, have a six-day gap between Saturday's game and Boxing Day, before then playing four games in ten days.

Therefore, ensuring that he has the majority of his squad available is the key focus for Alex Neil.

Alex Neil issues injury update ahead of Blackburn Rovers trip

According to a report by Southwark News, Millwall will have both Ryan Leonard and Billy Mitchell back ahead of Saturday's trip to Blackburn.

Mitchell's return will give a big boost in the centre of the park for Alex Neil, after missing the last seven league games with a hamstring injury.

As for right-back Leonard, he's been missing for even longer, with a hamstring tear taking him out of the last eight.

However, despite the good news, Alex Neil will be proceeding with caution regarding their involvement following a lengthy period on the sidelines, especially given the compact schedule that Millwall have to navigate over the coming fortnight.

"We've got a few players training with us this week, but whether they'll be available and ready remains to be seen. We've got Billy and Lenny on their way back," Neil said.

"But again, they haven't played in a number of weeks. So it's just whether we feel and they feel themselves as if they can play any part and assist us in that sense.

"Those decisions will be made between now and the game. It's too early to suggest whether that's going to be the case or not.

"We've got four games in ten days. [...] It'd be remiss of me if I didn't pre-plan and have in my head what's going to be going forward, particularly with the injury situation that we've got.

"Because if I just go flog the players game by game by game without having any future planning or forward planning in mind, then we could find ourselves in a little bit of a pickle in a variety of different positions. So that’s certainly something I’ll be looking over before we get into each match.”

Alex Neil will hope that this news is the sign of things to come, as his short-handed Millwall side slowly builds to being back to full strength.

Against Hull City last weekend, the Lions were missing 11 senior players, including all seven of their central midfielders, which forced left-back Zak Sturge and attacking midfielder Thierno Ballo to deputise.

To make matters worse, exciting attacker Femi Azeez won't be seen now until the new year, after he picked up a red card and a three-match ban in the 3-1 defeat against the Tigers.

Despite this adversity throughout the campaign, however, Millwall are still in pole position to land a place in the play-offs, and Alex Neil will be hopeful that a few returning players over the coming weeks will aid in helping that become a reality.

However, ensuring that what remains of his senior squad comes out of this busy period injury-free carries similar, if not more, importance. Therefore, he'll be making sure that the returnees are fully ready before being inserted back into the fray.