Alex Neil provides injury update as Millwall head into pre-season – and outlines progress of Zak Lovelace, Benicio Baker.

ALEX Neil has provided an update on the players who missed the last stretch of the season due to injury, as Millwall prepares for preseason.

Ra’ees Bangura-Williams, Camiel Neghli, Zak Lovelace, and Benicio Baker were all sidelined for several months, while Joe Bryan and Billy Mitchell missed the final three and two games of the season, respectively, due to short-term injuries. Lukas Jensen and Danny McNamara both suffered long-term injuries and are anticipated to miss time next season, with McNamara likely to return sooner.

Neil indicated that the majority of the squad is ready for pre-season, with the exception of a few players who are still not fully fit.

“Zak is still obviously recovering, but he’s on the grass now, so he’s doing some runs, he’s doing some technical work, but he’s just probably a little bit behind others, purely because of his injury,” Neil said in an interview.

“Camiel has participated wholeheartedly. Ra’ees has participated extensively. We made it through the first two days, touchwood, with no problems other than fatigue and muscle tightness.

Lovelace is yet to make an appearance in his second term with the Lions, having suffered knee surgery immediately after returning from Rangers on the final day of the January transfer window.

Neil is keen to properly monitor his rehabilitation. “Zak, if you look at him right over the last three seasons, his injury record has been not particularly good, which means we need to be careful with him,” Neil told me. “So we need to make sure we develop him in a way that permits him to stay fit.

“Aidomo [Emakhu] had a very comparable record. Aidomo never picked up another injury after he returned because of how I dealt with him in terms of dipping him into the team, dipping him out, and possibly adjusting his work regimen slightly.” Zak Lovelace will fall into a comparable group.

We need to get him up to the point where he’s strong enough to handle the effort that we’ll put him through.” Baker, who arrived from Brighton in January, is yet to make a first-team appearance after being diagnosed with pubic symphasis.

The 21-year-old winger has made a few appearances for the under-21 team. “He’s probably in a similar position to Zak, in the fact that he’s still a little bit behind the other the lads,” Neil told me. “But he’s completing a lot of his job. He’s just not quite where the guys are right now, so he’ll need a little more time.”

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