Conor Washington continuing his studies under Paul Warne at Rotherham United

“It feels like I’ve been here years,” says the Northern Ireland international, whose career has taken him from St Ives to Heart of Midlothian via clubs like Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers before alighting on the New York Stadium this summer.

He feels he has joined a club which can do something special this season – more than just surviving the biennial Championship relegation scrap.

Former Great Yarmouth Town, Diss Town and Wroxham forward Warne was also considering teaching PE during his days up front for Rotherham, only to reluctantly become the Championship’s longest-serving manager.

As a result the Millers have the fitness fanatic’s fingerprints all over them. They also pride themselves on attention to detail when signing players, and part-time student Washington was as thorough in his homework.

“I’ve always had a really good impression of the fans and the players from playing against Rotherham and having seen players I know that have gone there and done well, it’s always been based on hard work,” he says. “Blood and sweat is the minimum requirement and that’s what I base all my good play on.

“Speaking to other guys who have played here I’ve heard great things about the manager. He comes across great in the media.

“It’s not just a persona, that’s him. It wasn’t a surprise but it’s nice he fitted my view of him.”

Because you can do all the due diligence you like, you never quite know until you get there.

“It’s been all I thought and more,” says Washington.

“The standards are maintained by the manager, Richie (Barker, his assistant) and Hammy (first-team coach Matt Hamshaw) but policed mostly through the players because they don’t want to waste a day. They want to win possession, five-a-side, whatever.

“The new lads have brought that same sort of hunger.”

In each of Warne’s nearly six years Rotherham have been promoted to or relegated from the Championship. What makes Washington think this can be different?

“It was the question I asked myself and the manager but it’s not like the last few seasons Rotherham have gone down without a whimper, it’s been final-day stuff, a point here or there,” he argues.

“The recruitment’s been really good and hopefully there’ll be a few more. There’s interest in a few of our stars but if we can keep this squad together, we showed on the first day of the season (drawing with Swansea City) at the minimum it’s competitive. We don’t want it to be a fourth-bottom finish, we genuinely believe we can do what Huddersfield, Luton, Barnsley (Championship play-off teams in the last two years) did.”

His personal ambitions are more prosaic.

“I want to be playing every week to make sure I’m around the international squad,” he says. “I want to be part of something special and you feel more a part of it if you play every game.”

Helping him do that is his university distance learning. Washington is about 18 months from completing his degree.

“It’s something I toyed with when I was 24, 25 thinking what did I want to do (after football),” he reveals. “I thought that was a good one because I can go into a multitude of different things.

“Once you hit 30 (as he did in May) you want to get your ducks in a row. I’ve toyed with PE teaching – I’m passionate about passing my experiences on and it’s a great job for family life – or maybe working with athletes in a strength and conditioning capacity. But if Woody (Richard Wood) is anything to go by I’ve got seven or eight years left at least!

“The sports scientists and strength and conditioning coaches have probably got a bit tired of all my questions but it’s a great environment to learn in. Brent (Dickinson, the Millers’ new senior performance coach) has done every qualification under the sun.

“As you get older it becomes a bit more apparent you need to squeeze more out. You see players hitting 30 and it’s almost like they’ve hit a brick wall physically. That’s the foundations you lay.

“Next I might move into my coaching badges. Now I’m in the groove of having to do stuff it would be nice to carry it on. I’m incredibly good at procrastinating and having to squeeze an assignment into eight days, which is what I’ve got right now!”

Washington had a bit more study time at the weekend when Rotherham’s game at Coventry City yesterday was postponed with the pitch deemed unsafe after 62 matches of Commonwealth Games rugby sevens on it the previous weekend.