Millwall defender Tony Craig sees his testimonial match against Brentford as a chance to say goodbye to the Bees fans.

The Lions captain was granted the honour by the south London club with the Bees more than happy to provide the opposition, given the centre back’s excellent three-year spell at Griffin Park.

Craig, who returned to The Den in 2015, still has fond memories of his time at the club and is grateful for the Bees for agreeing to come and sees his chance to say thank you to the fans.

He said: “I feel very privileged that Brentford have accepted to come down on my special day.

“As soon as there was an opportunity for this there was one club I was looking for. I’m thankful to the management, Matthew Benham, Phil Giles and Mark Devlin and Dean Smith for being a part of bringing the team down.

“They didn’t have to. I had three memorable years there on and off the pitch. I enjoyed my time there.

“I travelled up there day in day out as I didn’t leave my south London roots.”

He added: “There’ll be a lot of friendly faces there. Hopefully I’ll have some good support from Brentford coming down.

“I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to the fans as I left in the off-season so it’ll be nice to say goodbye.”

Craig has fond memories of his time at Griffin Park and still speaks to some of his old Bees team-mates and is expecting a few messages in the run up to the contest.

He added: “As soon as I knew the interest from Millwall, there was only one club I was going to go to. I’d never say no to them.

“I’ve made it clear what I think of this club and everyone at Brentford knew it.

“When I knew there was the opportunity to go back it waseasier for myself and my family to go back. I hold fond memories there.

“I still keep in contact with Alan McCormack, Jake Bidwell, Harlee Dean, Sam Saunders and Kevin O’Connor, so there are a few texts here and there.

“There’ll be a bit of banter flowing before the game, but it will be nice to see them.

Body on the line: Tony Craig against Blackburn's Rudy Gestede

“At the end of the day it’s game day and you’ve no friends once you cross the white line. But it’s a game I’m really looking forward to.”

Both Craig and McCormack have similar playing styles and the Millwall man is looking forward to taking him on again.

He said: “We’ve had some good tussles over the years. The funny thing is the 2013 play-off semi-final against Swindon I did try tripping him up but I missed him.

“He caught me later and I remember getting up with grass all over my teeth and we just looked at each other and started laughing.

“But that’s the sort of people we are and we put our bodies on the line week in, week out.”

Tickets for Tony Craig’s testimonial are available for £10 adults and £5 concessions. A donation from the proceeds will go to Headley Court, the rehabilitation centre for injured soldiers.