Rotherham United forego day off in order to close gap on Championship relegation rivals

If Monday was about meeting them briefly and speaking to the media about his appointment, Tuesday was all about seeing first hand just how big a challenge he faces in trying to hoist the Millers off the foot of the Championship table.

West Bromwich Albion came to the New York Stadium fifth in the table, played far too passively in the first half as they dared an ineffective Rotherham to have a go at them, but had enough quality to respond positively to a rollicking from manager Carlos Corberan and cruise to victory.

Grady Diangana and Jed Wallace scored the goals in a 2-0 win but what will have caused most concern for Richardson is the fact the Baggies barely had to get out of second gear to raise the intensity.

So the opportunity on Wednesday to finally get on the training pitch with his players will have been welcomed.

The Wednesday after a Tuesday night game is usually a day off for players, but Richardson knows there is little time to waste with the Millers eight points from safety.

“We're working every day at the minute, aren't we? So it's important we're in,” said the 44-year-old who spent as much time talking to the media as he did his players in his first two days at the New York Stadium.

“We've got a long trip to Plymouth. We'll be making sure we do the right things right now after the game, then tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and into the game on Saturday.

“We've got a group of players and staff who are wanting to improve daily. We'll have to get better, and quickly.”

One of his better performers on the night, Christ Tiehi – another former Wigan man – welcomed the news that they would be in for an extra session on Wednesday.

“If you ask me I could train every day,” said the 25-year-old. “I think it’s important that we’re in.”

By his own admission, Richardson has only been in place “minutes”.

He didn’t pick the team for the West Brom game, but he did influence the second-half substitutions as the coaching staff looked to inject a bit of urgency into the Millers.

“With the substitutions it’s always a collective with the information you’ve been given,” he said.

“It’s important that you listen, that you don’t just talk, that you listen to opinions and that you give everybody a fair account.

“You can only commend the effort and endeavour out there. Can we be better in certain areas? Of course we can.”

Asked if the result underlined the size of the task he had taken on, Richardson said: “We are where we are, we won’t look at the past, we’ll look at the future and we’ll work every day tirelessly to be better individually and collectively.

“You need transfer windows, you need to improve and educate on a daily basis – we’re certainly not going to do it in minutes.

“It’s going to take months and a couple of windows to ideally get where we want to be.”