Midfielder Jay Tabb and left-back Aaron Cresswell are both fit enough to line-up for the Blues in Saturday’s first home game of the season against Millwall. Tabb hurt his shoulder at Stevenage on Tuesday, while Cresswell has missed Town's two games so far due to a thigh injury.
Manager Mick McCarthy says the former Tranmere man has come through two days’ training without a problem: "He’s fine, he trained yesterday and he’s trained today.
"So that’s the good news from the treatment room, along with Tabby, who took a nasty knock on his shoulder on Tuesday. He’s trained fully. They’re both fit and ready to go, which is pleasing."
The Blues boss is glad to have Cresswell back, but was quick to praise his replacement Tyrone Mings, who is currently out with the knee problem he suffered at the Madejski Stadium: "I thought Tyrone was fantastic at Reading, but you’re always going to miss Cressy.
"I would have liked Cressy to have been fit at Reading, but I thought Ty was different class. The real heartache for me was that Ty was injured in that game.
"But Cressy was arguably our best player last season, I think he’s, again arguably, the best left-back in the league, so I’d like to have him fit and playing for me.
"But I’m not going to suggest for one minute that Tyrone Mings did anything but a great job at Reading. But I’m still happy to have Cressy back because he is quality.”
He says Mings will be out for about a month: "I’ve just been talking to him and he said that every time he sees an interview it gets longer and longer!
"That’s because I was told he was fit when he tried to come off and he wouldn’t come off and he played the rest of the game. Then he was going to be a week, then he was going to be three weeks and then he was going to be four weeks. I’d like it to stop at four actually.”
The Town boss confirmed that Tabb will be OK to take his place on the left of midfield: "Tabby’s great, I was delighted to re-sign him just for his influence on the pitch, but also around the place he’s a really good character, a solid pro.
"He took a really nasty knock. For him to come off you could tell how badly hurt he was.”
McCarthy is glad the left-sided injury crisis is gradually easing with Anthony Wordsworth the only senior player still sidelined, due to a calf problem: "He’s still injured, he trained today, he might be training on Monday fully.
"It is what it is, there’s nothing I can do about it. It could be centre forwards or midfielders or centre-halves or keepers next. It just happens.”
McCarthy looks back fondly on his time at the Den and says he owes a lot to late Lions chairman Reg Burr: "I loved it there, that was my first chance in football to be a manager and I’m eternally grateful to Mr Burr for giving me that chance.
"And also to the Millwall fans who gave me great me support and still do, except for twice a year when I get large portions from them!
"But then I see them in the street walking around Bromley and they all think I’m fine. Mr Burr was great, I learnt a great deal from him, he was terrific.”
Aside from Cresswell taking over from Mings at left-back, McCarthy is likely to return to the side which lost 2-1 at Reading on the opening day.
Scott Loach will probably be in goal with Elliott Hewitt at right-back and Tommy Smith and Luke Chambers at the heart of the defence.
In midfield, Cole Skuse and Luke Hyam will be in the middle with Tabb on the left and skipper Carlos Edwards on the right. David McGoldrick and Daryl Murphy will be the strikers.
New Millwall boss Steve Lomas is weighing up whether to give former Blue Lee Martin his first Lions start, the winger having come on as a sub in the Capital One Cup victory over AFC Wimbledon, having missed the 1-0 opening day defeat to Yeovil.
"Playing out wide is a little bit different to play centre-back or centre-midfield - it is very explosive, it's high demand and there's a lot of intense running,” Lomas told the News at Den.
"We've got to take that into consideration because the last thing we want to do is push Lee too hard and lose him for two months, but he's looking fitter and so is Scott McDonald."
The former St Johnstone manager felt his side put in an improved display against the Dons: "They all showed an appetite to get into the team and to do what we asked of them. We wanted them to pass it a bit more and we did, and that's why we created more.
"You've got to mix it up between playing short and playing it long, otherwise you become predictable. If you play it short all the time that can slow you down, and going long can turn the game into a bit of a fight. It's about recognising the two sides of the game and I thought we did that well."
Keeper David Forde is out having undergone knee surgery and Stephen Bywater will make his Lions league debut. Ex-Blue Andy Marshall will be on the bench.
New loan signing Shaun Derry could make his debut having joined from QPR for a month yesterday, while another ex-Blue Liam Trotter remains sidelined having undergone knee surgery in the summer.
Blues manager McCarthy was a Millwall player at the end of his career between 1990 and 1992, when he took over as boss. He remained manager at the Den until 1996 when he took charge of the Republic of Ireland.
McCarthy’s record as manager of the Lions reads played 203, won 74, drew 70 and lost 59. In 1993/94 they finished third in what’s now the Championship but lost out to Derby County in the play-off semi-finals.
Town coach Mark Kennedy started his playing career with Millwall, making 46 starts and eight sub appearances and scoring 12 goals between 1992 and 1995.
Ipswich-born Trotter moved to the Den from Portman Road during the summer of 2010 after a loan spell, turning down a contract with the Blues.
Martin joined Millwall after leaving Portman Road this summer, while ex-Blues loan keeper Bywater also moved to the Lions during the close season after departing Sheffield Wednesday. Marshall rejoined the Lions this week on a short-term deal.
Striker Andy Keogh had a trial with the Town academy when a schoolboy, new loan signing Derry almost moved to Town during Roy Keane’s tenure, James Henry was the subject of a bid from former manager Paul Jewell, while sidelined keeper Forde was understood to be interesting the Blues this summer.
The sides are closely-matched historically, Millwall having won 18 games (17 in the league) and Town 17 (14), while 13 (13) have ended in draws.
In April, Town claimed their fourth point of the two Easter fixtures as their trip to Millwall ended in a 0-0 draw.
Luke Hyam and Michael Chopra both had chances for Town, while Lions defender Shane Lowry came closest to breaking the deadlock when he struck the outside of the post with a freekick in the second half.
In December at Portman Road, DJ Campbell scored twice and Daryl Murphy once as Town beat Millwall 3-0 to halt a Lions’ unbeaten run of 13 games.
The Blues went in front in the first half when Campbell converted Aaron Cresswell’s cross, then after the break Murphy netted the second and Campbell added the third from the penalty spot.
With the FA staging the Sir Bobby Robson National Football Day on Saturday, Town will be holding a minute’s applause before the game.
Several of Robson’s players, including Kevin Beattie, Bryan Hamilton, Micky Stockwell, Mick Mills and Kieron Dyer, will be present and will be introduced to the crowd, while many of them will also be on Radio Suffolk’s Life’s a Pitch between 12 and 2pm.
Town have overhauled their programme-selling operation for the new season with all the existing sellers replaced by new staff in kiosks around the ground.
Saturday’s referee is Graham Salisbury from Lancashire, who showed 137 yellow and six red cards in 43 games last season. Salisbury’s most recent Town match was coincidentally the last game at Portman Road, the 3-1 victory over Birmingham in April, when he booked two players, Aaron Cresswell and, perhaps inevitably, Lee Martin.
Squad from: Loach, Gerken, Hewitt, Veseli, Cresswell, Smith, Chambers, Berra, Skuse, Hyam, Tunnicliffe, Edwards, Anderson, Tabb, McGoldrick, Murphy, Nouble, Taylor.