11:40am Thursday 7th August 2008
By Paul Green
KENNY Jackett sees no reason why his Millwall side can not be involved in the League One promotion race.
The Lions have found themselves at the wrong end of the table in the past two years following their relegation from the Championship in 2006.
However, the manager is hoping a strong start to the campaign at Oldham on Saturday and an end to the injury crisis which has dogged the squad since he took over last November will both help Millwall have a say in the final shake up.
Jackett explained: "We can be promoted this year. The beauty of this division is there will be 75 percent of the teams saying they are capable of mounting a promotion push and we would certainly include ourselves in that.
"I know what we want to do over the course of the season, but us being strong and competitive at the start is very important.
"Predictions are great because they generate a lot of interest, but I'm only really concerned with Millwall and getting off to a good start is the key point I keep stressing to the players."
The manager added: "We've got through six weeks of pre-season and have all bar two players available for selection, which is quite good.
"Danny Senda is out which we expected anyway but we are just waiting for a late test on Ryan Smith, who has a very slight thigh strain.
"Marcus Bignot and Dave Brammer are just coming back from operations and Adrian Forbes is coming back from tonsillitis, but they are all training.
"We've got three games in eight days to get us off and running."
First up are Oldham on Saturday and Jackett is anticipating a tough test in the north west.
He said: "Boundary Park is a hard place to go. They've got a good home record and have kept a lot of the players from last season as well as adding a few new ones.
"Chris O'Grady is a good forward, Craig Davies is there but I believe Lee Hughes is out.
"They have been playing with O'Grady and Davies up front in pre-season and using Hughes as sub.
"I know he got injured last week so it wouldn't necessarily be true to assume he would have been starting because the other two are decent players."
Millwall's first game at The Den is a Carling Cup encounter with Northampton on Tuesday evening and Jackett believes it is vital his team are given a chance to play together on a regular basis, something which the visit of the Cobblers will help.
He said: "I will certainly take Tuesday's game seriously because I do believe in gaining momentum at the start of the year.
"You can firstly get the right team, then settle the team down and let them build a rhythm.
"It is too early to be chopping and changing for the sake of it.
"If you just want to change it because the team hasn't done well, that is different but the momentum is important and we want to start with a win at Oldham and push on against Northampton."
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