Having gone into administration for the second time in two years, having had 10 points deducted as a result and having been asked to take a wage deferral, it would have been easy for Mark Robins's side to throw in the towel.

Yet they battled back from going behind early in the second half and could have gone on to win when City were reduced to 10 men in the 71st minute when Jamaican Omar Daley's reckless challenge on Millers captain Graham Coughlan earned him a straight red.

Rotherham manager Robins confessed: "It has probably been the worst week you can imagine in football but we've come through it and performed today.

"They gave everything, that's what they promised, that's what they're paid for.

"Talking about payments, we are talking about players and staff being asked to take deferrals and it's a difficult time for everyone. They have shown real character today and I'm pleased with that more than anything else.

"It's difficult to do anything at the minute. It's a difficult time and all the negativity around the club does not help. You are looking and asking 'is someone going to come in and save it or is it going to go?'"

Robins still found some time for some gallows humour when asked if they can claw their way back into the play-offs.

"We are still in the play-offs if you look at the table on Sky so keep quiet and we'll be okay."

With only seven games to go, however, the Millers are eight points off that final play-off spot occupied by Chesterfield, who head to Bradford today as the Millers travel to eighth-placed Rochdale.

"It is another tough game and we are still smarting from the defeat they inflicted on us at Millmoor. The bravery and mental toughness we have shown this week will have to be repeated on Monday.

"There is no point sitting and sulking. We have to get on with it and see where we are after those seven games," said Robins, whose one bit of good news was that the administrator had assured him no players would be forced to go – yet.

He had stuck by the side which beat Chesterfield in their last match, while counterpart Stuart McCall made four change after giving his City players a tongue-lashing after defeat by relegation-threatened Mansfield.

One of them was enforced, however, as Fulham loan defender TJ Moncur was allowed to drop out due to "family reasons" and is unlikely to figure today – Mark Bower being given his first start of the year.

Striker Peter Thorne was also rested but today will replace Daley, who not only starts a three-match ban but who flew off for international duty along with City goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts against Trinidad and Tobago.

McCall was delighted with the response of his side: "The hard work we put in during the week has paid off. I detected a steely determination in the players and just hoped they would carry it into the game and they did.

"They all know they are playing for their futures but it's not just one good performance I'm looking for, I want them to achieve a level of consistency."

McCall, who will study a video before deciding whether to punish Daley, may not make many changes today even though he knows his side could have completed a double over the Millers had it not been for a glaring miss by Kyle Nix – son of former Rotherham player Peter.

City were leading 1-0 when Daley burst outside two defenders and whipped in a 63rd-minute cross, which Nix slid on to at the far post only to somehow deflect the ball back across the face of goal into the grateful arms of Andy Warrington.

It proved costly as O'Grady ghosted in from the right to make it 1-1 two minutes later, connecting with a deep free-kick from left-back Marc Joseph, which goalkeeper Scott Loach misjudged as it got carried in the wind.

The 71st-minute dismissal of Daley led to City being forced into a rearguard action as a snowstorm blew into their faces but the old partnership of David Wetherall and Bower stood firm at the Railway End.

Coughlan and Pablo Mills had been just as impressive at the other end but City breached them three minutes into the second half.

In the first, Jamie Yates had opted to go for a tight angle as he came in from the right but shot into the side-netting after a clever chip through up the slope by O'Grady.

When Joe Colbeck got the same opportunity after taking a return pass from Tom Penford, the City flank player drove his shot across Warrington and in off the far post for his sixth goal of the season.

Otherwise, chances were at a premium – Barry Conlon shooting against Warrington's legs, Nix blazing over another chance and O'Grady finding the net only to be ruled offside – and the outcome satisfied both camps.



Rotherham United: Warrington; Tonge, Mills, Coughlan, Joseph; Yates (Green 68), Harrison, Hudson, P Holmes (Taylor 83); O'Grady, D Holmes (Newsham 61). Unused substitutes: Cann, Ross.

Bradford City: Loach, Williams (Starosta 90), Wetherall, Bower, Heckingbottom; Colbeck, Penford, Johnson, Nix; Daley, Conlon (Thorne 83). Unused substitutes: Evans, Rhodes, Topp.

Referee: M Thorpe (Suffolk).