Fresh concern surrounding Rotherham United loanee Klaidi Lolos
More than six weeks into his stay, the attacker has yet to play
Rotherham United have a new doubt hanging over Klaidi Lolos as the deadline-day signing waits to make his debut for the Millers.
The forward, who moved to AESSEAL New York Stadium on loan from Peterborough United on September 1, was sidelined by a thigh issue soon after his arrival.
He has recovered from that, but a setback suffered in training earlier this week may prevent him being named in the matchday 18 for Saturday's League Two clash at Fleetwood Town.
"He felt his back a little bit after training on Tuesday," said boss Alex Bruce this afternoon. "He's had a rest day today, so we'll see how he is tomorrow when he wakes up. If he can train, he'll come into my thoughts. There's still a possibility he could be in the squad."
The head coach confirmed that the thigh complaint the 25-year-old Greek picked up in a reserve outing is no longer a problem.
"Klaidi is over that," he said.
The involvement of Lolos would be a boost as Rotherham are without two other frontmen, Fabio Tavares and George Sebine, leaving only 30-somethings Paul Mullin and Tom Bradshaw as fit central attackers.
The Millers are seeking to halt a run of two successive fourth-tier losses and climb higher than their present 20th spot.
The 4-1 defeat to Gillingham at New York last Saturday grated with Bruce, and he called in his players for training on Sunday, which is normally a squad day off.
"It wasn't a punishment thing, it was just me," the boss said. "I think when you get beaten by that margin at home you need to come in and address it.
"We had a little bit of a meeting. We went through some stuff I wasn't very happy with and some stuff I was happy with from the game. I don't think 4-1 was a reflection of our performance.
"It was just a case of getting them in at the soonest opportunity to put it to bed so we could come in on Monday morning fresh with a full week to work on things."
Having no midweek fixture has given Bruce and his coaches time to reinforce the message that they want to see defenders instigating attacks rather than tamely keeping possession.
"For me, there were a lot of square passes and backward passes last Saturday - something that I don't like," he said. "It's one of the things we've working on.
"I want to see a team that plays the ball forward, puts pressure on the opposition's backline, makes the game exciting and gives supporters something to shout about.
"Then, when we haven't got the ball, I want to see a few tackles flying in and players showing endeavour."