Millwall boss reveals truth about new signings after Bolton Wanderers victory

Millwall manager Alex Neil admitted that the club’s injury crisis forced him to take risks with his team selection during their 4-0 victory over Bolton Wanderers.

Derek Mazou-Sacko was given his first start of the season after recovering from injury, while Romain Esse featured after joining on loan from Crystal Palace earlier in the week. New signing Yanis Issoufou also made his debut, despite having only completed one training session with the squad after receiving international clearance for his move from Montpellier.

Issoufou replaced Tairyk Arconte in the 65th minute as Millwall cruised to a convincing win.

The Lions were without ten players because of injuries, including midfielders Casper De Norre, Mathis Servais and Luke Cundle, while Ryan Leonard was another unavailable option in defensive midfield.

Neil acknowledged that the lack of squad depth made his decisions more difficult, particularly with Newcastle and Middlesbrough among the fixtures ahead.

The Millwall boss admitted that under normal circumstances, Mazou-Sacko and Esse would probably not have started, while Issoufou would not have been expected to feature so soon after arriving.

However, with so many players unavailable, Neil insisted that the circumstances left him with little choice.

He also admitted that asking Issoufou to play after just one training session was particularly demanding, especially as the youngster does not yet speak English.