Kenny Jackett talks to www.themillers.co.uk...
Rotherham United manager Kenny Jackett says he will wait on the fitness of midfield trio Greg Halford, Jon Taylor and Lee Frecklington ahead of Saturday’s 100th league game at AESSEAL New York Stadium.The Millers boss was without club captain Frecklington for last weekend’s trip to Portman Road after he failed a fitness test on the morning of the game but paid tribute to his skipper who he says did everything in his power to make himself available.
“He did it against Birmingham the week before I came but it's getting better and it is improving and he has a chance for Saturday,” Jackett told www.themillers.co.uk.
“He straps it up and gets on with it and always wants to give himself a chance of competing which is a credit to him and his professionalism.”
Jackett’s midfield was dealt a further blow when Halford limped off 10 minutes before the interval, before industrious winger Taylor, who has featured in every Millers’ fixture in both league and cup competitions this season, was withdrawn late on.
When speaking to www.themillers.co.uk, Jackett explained that he will monitor the pair’s progress over the next 48 hours before making a judgement on their availability for the clash against the Lilywhites.
“Greg came off with a calf problem early on in the game and Jon Taylor came off with a knee ligament injury after just over an hour and is in a similar situation, in that we'll see on Thursday and Friday whether Halford and Taylor make it for Saturday,” he continued.
“He's [Taylor] a hard-working player and didn't want to come off last week but he hasn't trained yet this week and we'll see how he responds in the next 48 hours with regard to the Preston game.”
However, there was positive news on Cardiff City loanee Tom Adeyemi who rejoined the main group for full training this morning and Jackett says he is keen to see him in action, despite expecting Saturday’s second tier match to be too early for his return.
“It'll be his first day's training today which is good,” he added.
“We're looking forward to it but Saturday will come too soon and he'll have to build up his fitness and get going quickly because he's a player that I'm interested in seeing.”
Meanwhile, long-term absentee Kirk Broadfoot’s return remains unclear as he continues his recovery from an ongoing back problem.
“It's hard to put a timeframe on it. He hasn't started training with us yet and we're working away behind the scenes to try and get it right but it's not a straight forward situation with his injury and it's very difficult to put a time frame on it."