Mason Bennett is facing an uphill battle to play any part in the remainder of Millwall’s season due to the calf injury he picked up in Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Stoke City.
The attacker has been in good form for the Lions but the problem is set to rule him out for up to six weeks.
Even the shorter timescale mentioned – a month – will be around mid April, meaning the former Derby County youngster will sit out at least four of their last eight fixtures.
“The normal timescale is four to six weeks,” said Millwall manager Gary Rowett. “Even if it’s four weeks then you’ve lost a little bit of match fitness.
“Rather than me sitting here and saying he could be back for the last couple of games, it’s easier for me to say that is probably the best part of the season gone.
“We have got players coming back. The key thing is we’ll have four or five new players back, from a week ago, including Bradshaw, Lenny, Kief, probably Evo and probably Burkey. Probably not Hutchy at the moment; that’s probably a little bit slower. I’m not looking at the moment when he is going to be back, it’s more getting to the bottom of why it’s taking a little bit of time for his calf.
“It’s been about getting over one injury and trying to sort another one out. We’ve got a few coming back but it looks like Mason is a bit of a casualty.
“I don’t think bodies is now going to be an issue or that fatigue is going to be an issue – because we have got players coming back. It will simply be can we maintain the form from before the Stoke game, simple as that, in that seven or eight-game period?
“We’re going to need something strong towards the end of the season – we knew that. But we’ll just try and enjoy our football. It’s funny, people have made a big thing about the fact we haven’t spoken about the top six and I don’t even think it’s a conscious decision.
“I think it’s because we’ve been in and around it for so long. We’re just better when we go out there and try and upset teams and turn teams with more expectation over – like we did with Huddersfield, Sheffield United and QPR. It’s easier to do it by not overthinking it – just going out and playing. We’ll try and enjoy the last eight games and see where we go.”