Millwall boss Neil Harris says he went with his gut when choosing his centre-halves for the Nottingham Forest defeat.

Byron Webster, who starred for the Lions last season, was surprisingly benched for their Championship opener on Friday evening.

Instead, Harris opted for Shaun Hutchinson and Jake Cooper, and the pair performed well at the City Ground.

Another big name who was left out of the starting eleven was club captain Tony Craig, with summer signing James Meredith taking his place.

Harris said: “These are really tough calls. Mahlon Romeo travelled and didn’t make the bench. It’s hard for all of us. We’ve now got three really good centre-halves.

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“Last year, we went with Byron and Coops, and Byron and Hutch. Against Forest, my gut feeling was to go with Hutch and Coops and the two of them were excellent.

“One has to miss out, Byron was disappointed. He’s a top lad and a top pro, who’s done really well for me. It’s up to him to force his way back in.

“Last year, Tony Craig had a difficult start to the season and then had an immense finish to the season, scored a really important goal at Bristol Rovers and lifted the trophy at Wembley.

“You have to make tight calls, if you want to compete at this level. As a footballer, you want to play in that first game, you want to play at the City Ground.

“We’ll have nigh on 50 games this year, maybe more depending on cup results. Everyone’s got a massive part to play.”