FILIP Marschall will not need surgery on the ankle injury he sustained against Lincoln City.

Marschall, 23, was forced off at half-time after colliding with the post in the sixteenth minute while collecting a free kick during the 2-2 draw at The Den.

Neil told NewsAtDen on Tuesday that Marschall had damaged his ligaments and was unlikely to be available “anytime soon”.

However, the Millwall boss provided a more positive update when speaking to MillwallTV on Thursday.

“Everybody could see it on the day,” Neil said. “He caught his foot on the side of the net, which is attached to the pole at the bottom, and he rolled his foot on the pole and basically rolled his ankle.

“The good thing is we had to get a surgical opinion. It won’t require surgery, which is great news. That then limits the timeframe, so it’ll certainly be sooner rather than what it could have been. It would’ve been longer had he had surgery.”

Max Crocombe, who replaced Marschall for the second half against Lincoln, is expected to start against Portsmouth this weekend.

Lukas Jensen is also closing in on a return after suffering another quad injury in late August.

Marschall joined Millwall from League One side Stevenage on deadline day and has started five games for the club.