Blueprint is there for Rotherham United to follow

Rowett’s Millwall had just been subjected to an aerial bombardment by Rotherham United – not of long balls, but crosses.

Rotherham crossed from the right and crossed from the left; they crossed from deep and crossed from the byline. They crossed 38 times without scoring.

There were lots of good things about Rotherham in their first competitive game at New York Stadium since February, not least the passing tempo which really did work Millwall’s legs and the interchanges between full-backs and wingers. In League One, where they played last season, it might have worn their opponents down, but with every step up in division the margins at either end of the field become tighter.

In Saturday’s Championship game, Rotherham not only lacked the cutting edge to make the most of their play but the 90-minute concentration to avoid defeat.

One mistake from centre-back Michael Ihiekwe, the previous weekend’s goal-scoring hero, sent Jed Wallace through to go too easily around goalkeeper Jamal Blackman, stranded outside his area, and earn a win Rowett freely admitted was undeserved.

“I’m probably happier this week than I was last week,” said Rotherham manager Paul Warne, whose side won 1-0 on the opening weekend. “It gives us real optimism we can go toe-to-toe with a very good side in this league.

“We played Wycombe last week and we’d both come up from League One and it was like a League One fixture. I suppose a few had their real debut in the Championship and they’ll be pleased how well they competed.”

They started very well, right-back Wes Harding springing a counter-attack with a lovely long pass into Chiedozie Ogbene, who had drifted in off his right wing. The ball was worked to Kieran Sadlier, whose cross was only just in front of Ogbene. Freddie Ladapo’s fantastic turn from Harding’s throw-in released Rotherham again, but Bartosz Bialkowski caught Joe Mattock’s delivery.

Well found by Harding, after 20 minutes Ogbene drilled a ball low into Ladapo, who opened up his body too much. Michael Smith did not get a firm enough contact on Harding’s centre.

Millwall came off at half-time having taken a battering but are the sort of team you have to finish off because they do not throw the towel in. They started the second half better, culminating in Wallace’s goal six minutes in.

Bialkowski’s hardest save was probably when Mattock’s mishit sent him scrambling.

Rotherham grew more frantic. Warne’s cry of “Wes, relax!” after 15 minutes had become “Wes, quickly!” by the 86th.

“Thirty-eight crosses is no mean feat at this level but we have to get on the end of them,” said Warne. “Chieo (Ogbene) was probably the outstanding player, he’s got pace and power.

“My full-backs have a responsibility to defend and attack and they can both cross a decent ball. I was really pleased with them.

“If teams defend crosses really well it’s difficult for the strikers to get a bit of movement in there.”

If a sharper cutting edge is needed, a debut from the bench for David Hirst’s son George, on loan from Leicester City, suggested he might provide it.

“Every time the ball goes into him, you think something’s going to happen,” said Warne of the centre-forward, whose first contribution was a blocked volley. “His movement’s really quick, he’s tidy and he just seems to make the right decisions.”

Shaun MacDonald, who has played at this level for Swansea City, Bournemouth and Wigan Athletic, shared his manager’s sunny outlook, saying: “I think it takes a performance like that to believe we are good enough to be in this league.”

If Rotherham’s intense 4-4-2 takes a toll on opponents it is demanding of them, too, with 32-year-old MacDonald and Jamie Lindsay outnumbered centrally so the wide men could gang up on Millwall’s wing-backs.

“Last pre-season I hadn’t really had many minutes before coming here so I probably wasn’t as fit as I should have been,” admitted MacDonald, whose namesake Angus made an assured debut. “I feel like my old self again now.

“The manager and the staff make no qualms before you sign about how hard you have to work – you have to in any league, really.”

The blueprint looks good. Adding the finishing touches will be the hard part.

Rotherham United: Blackman; Harding, Ihiekwe, A MacDonald, Mattock; Ogbene, S MacDonald, Lindsay (Crooks 76), Sadlier (Wiles 66); Ladapo (Hirst 66), Smith. Unused substitutes: Johansson, Wood, Vassell, Miller.

Millwall: Bialkowski; Cooper, Pearce, Hutchinson; Romeo (Williams 74), Woods, Leonard, Malone (M Wallace 74), J Wallace; Bradshaw, Bennett (Smith 82). Unused substitutes: Ferguson, Mahoney, Bodvarsson, Wright.

Referee: L Doughty (Lancashire).

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James Mitchinson - Editor