Cheltenham Town v Rotherham United: Millers in better nick than previous League One promotion seasons

Seeking their third instant return to the Championship under Warne, the statistics show that the Millers are already ahead of their points tally after ten games in the victorious seasons of 2017-18 and 2019-20.

Given that they dropped points in dominant performances against Lincoln and Crewe and lost late on at Wigan, their current total should arguably be more. But in the grand scheme of things, United are going along just fine and have so far avoided some mini-dramas which afflicted them in the first half of those aforesaid promotion years. That in itself can be seen as ominous.

First-team coach Matt Hamshaw said: “This is our best start in three seasons we have had in this league as a management team.

“I think we had 12 points after ten games in the second one and 15 in the first and 17 in this one.

“That speaks volumes and I know there are murmurings and people want this, that and the other.

“But the manager has a good track record in that division, so the points total speaks volumes that we have more than we’ve ever had done.

“Would we want more points? 100 per cent. Have we probably got what our performances have deserved? No, we haven’t, but we’d probably take it if you’d offered it after ten games at the start of the season.”

The Millers head west on the back of Tuesday’s convincing win over AFC Wimbledon, sweetened by the sight of Will Grigg scoring his first league goal for the club in his fifth appearance.

On a potential bellwether moment for Grigg, Hamshaw added: “It is like anything with a striker, they want to get off the mark (in the league) as quick as they can with their new club and he has that one now.

“His track record is his track record and you would expect him to score more goals and I am sure he will.”