Arsenal loanee Daniel Ballard was taken to hospital for a bad cut over his eye on Wednesday night, according to Millwall boss Gary Rowett.

Millwall v Fulham - Daniel Ballard of Millwall during the Sky Bet Championship match at The Den, London. Copyright: Brian Tonks
Millwall v Fulham – Daniel Ballard of Millwall during the Sky Bet Championship match at The Den, London. Copyright: Brian Tonks

Daniel Ballard has effectively become a permanent fixture in the Millwall starting lineup since joining on loan this summer, playing every Championship minute for the team up until Wednesday night in Swansea.

Unfortunately, the 21-year-old Arsenal centre-back was forced off against Swansea with a facial injury. Manager Gary Rowett confirmed afterwards that Ballard had gone to hospital.

“There’s a bad cut over his eye, his eye has swollen up,” Rowett said. “I don’t think he could see out of it. There’s no concussion or anything, it’s just a bad cut. He’s gone to hospital to get it looked at.”

Millwall managed to get through the final 20 minutes without conceding, so they at least took home a clean sheet and a point from the fixture.

They’ll hope they can patch Ballard up for their next game on Saturday, with matches coming thick and fast right now.

After the Championship visit of Coventry City on Saturday, Millwall will be preparing for a League Cup game against Leicester City the following Wednesday. That one would be a great experience for Ballard, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed on his recovery.

Ballard has been in strong recent form, scoring against West Brom and keeping a clean sheet with Northern Ireland against Switzerland. At this early stage, he’s already made eight appearances and played 690 minutes for Millwall.