GARY Rowett says he will pick his strongest side in the first round of the EFL Cup at Crawley on Saturday in preparation for the opening game of the Championship against Stoke at The Den the following weekend.
The Lions are set to be without the injured Troy Parrott, Billy Mitchell and Jiri Skalak for the tie, and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Shane Ferguson are away on international duty.
Millwall were due to play Brighton in their final friendly ahead of the 2020-21 season, before the football authorities decided to bring the first-round games forward.
Youngsters such as Hayden Muller, Tyler Burey and Junior Tiensia have made promising impressions in pre-season, but are unlikely to start against the League Two side as Rowett focuses on decisions over his first XI to face the Potters.
Last season, Neil Harris made eight changes before his side defeated West Brom 2-1 in the first round of the competition, three days after they had drawn 1-1 away at the Baggies in the league.
“It’s a difficult one because usually the first round is an opportunity to play people who didn’t play in your first league game,” Rowett said. “It’s now preceding the first league game so therefore we’ll go as strong as we can in it to prepare for the season.
“You have to earn the chance to play in the first game of the season. [Muller] has done really well. Him and Tyler have been excellent pre-season and certainly are going to be part of our squad this season.”
Image: Millwall FC