Joe Mattock could make a
surprise return to the Rotherham fold for Friday’s South Yorkshire derby clash
with his former club Sheffield Wednesday.
The 25-year-old left-back
looked set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a shoulder
injury in Saturday’s defeat to Brentford.
He was sent for scans on
Monday and missed the 1-1 draw with Reading on Tuesday as a result.
But the findings of the scan
are not as bad as expected and Mattock could be in the frame against the Owls.
“Joe Mattock has had his scan
and it’s not as bad as first feared,” boss Neil Redfearn said.
“He has had a little bit of
light training on Wednesday morning with some strapping, so he is another that
could come into contention to train on Thursday.”
Whether Mattock would make it
into Redfearn’s side if fit is another matter following the debut performance of
loanee Harry Toffolo.
The Norwich left-back put in
a fine display against the Royals just 24 hours after meeting his new
team-mates and Redfearn has been impressed.
“He's an outstanding talent,” the
former Leeds boss said.
“We're really
fortunate to have him. He's going to have a great career. He's got a maturity
and composure about his game that belies his years.
“We gave him a tough ask, up against Nick Blackman, but I thought he stuck to it really
well.
“Second half,
he started coming out on top. He read the play well and intercepted. He stood
up. His quality going forward makes a real difference.”
As well as Mattock’s injury
boost, the Millers have also had some good news about Joe Newell and Danny
Ward.
Both men have missed the last
two games with respective foot and knee injuries, but both could be in
contention for a place in Redfearn’s matchday squad.
“Newelly trained on Wednesday
morning and has had no comebacks so far so if he comes in okay he will train and
we will try and push him on a little more and maybe think about considering him.
“Danny Ward’s back has freed
up and he’s a lot easier. We were worried about that to begin with because with
backs you just don’t know.
“He’s seen a specialist and I
don’t think there is anything major there and it feels a lot freer so hopefully
we will have him soon rather than later.”
