Determined Rotherham United achieve Championship safety in most characteristic way possible

Their 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough had all the hallmarks of the club Paul Warne and Tony Stewart built during six dizzying years yo-yoing between League One and the Championship.

They did it despite both wingers going off injured in the first half, and with Ben Wiles, the central midfielder filling in on the right, limping through the final minutes after a late clattering. Rotherham had only used four of their five substitutes but all three "windows" for changes.

They did it with just 23 per cent of the ball, despite Anfernee Dijksteel's red card for Boro on the stroke of half-time.

They only had one shot on target, but Hakeem Odoffin arrowed it in after 48 minutes, setting up much fingernail-chewing against a team one goal behind Burnley as the Championship's most free-scoring.

Yet Rotherham defended so diligently and worked with such a hunger that Viktor Johansson only made one save of note and that from Jamie Lindsay, the midfielder who more than anyone epitomised the Millers' insatiable appetite for work.

Much as manager Matt Taylor tried to deny it, he deserves a big chunk of the praise too.

"It's not my achievement, I've not played a big enough part," he said.

Not true.

Vital groundwork was laid before he arrived but such a big achievement needed his finishing touches.

Odoffin has been a Miller for two seasons, but 15 of his 16 league starts have come since Taylor replaced Warne in October after a long search which initially took chairman Stewart elsewhere, before this excellent choice. You always need luck.

"He's 6ft 2in, he covers the ground well, he's outstanding on set pieces in both boxes," explained Taylor when asked about Odoffin. "He always gets a chance every game.

"He still stays switched on out of possession. He stays in his groove of what the game needs.

"He trains better than anyone. He got an award last week for what a good person he is (a Football League prize for his community work). He practices those moments. We have to get him off the training pitch."

That Rotherham won in such an ugly fashion will have few neutrals licking their lips at the thought of 12 more months of them in the Championship but this is the real world.

Their budget is a fraction of Middlesbrough's in a division where they are one of only five clubs not to have played in the Premier League.

"I have to find a way to make this club better prepared," vowed Taylor and part of that will be playing a bit more. But they will never knock the ball around as Boro did because they cannot afford so many players of such technical ability.

The Teessiders nabbed two of Warne’s best – Dan Barlaser and Matt Crooks. Hayden Hackney, who stroked some wonderful first-half passes, is an academy product but Boro's chief creative force, Riley McGree, was imported from America.

But with nothing on the game for them, Boro lacked an edge.

"It's been that sort of day," muttered manager Michael Carrick as he banged his knee sitting down for the post-match press conference.

Jonny Howson pulled out of the warm-up with an injury at the top of his knee which hopefully will only keep him out of next week's dead rubber at Coventry City, as Dijksteel's suspension will.

Darragh Lenihan might have struggled to get across in time to stop Teessider Hugill shooting but for Dijksteel's foul inches outside the penalty area but Keith Stroud erred on the side of a red card.

If Rotherham got lucky then, they had already lost Chiedozie Ogbene to a hamstring pull and Shane Ferguson to a groin strain.

Lenihan's second-half tackle on Georgie Kelly looked a clear professional foul, yet Stroud waved on.

Almost certainly on his final home appearance for the Millers nine years after his first, 37-year-old Wood hesitated on a beautiful through-ball to McGree in the first eight minutes but the dink over Johansson was delicate enough that he could get back and clear.

So the first save, if you could call it that, was in the 79th minute, when Wood stuck out a boot to Tommy Smith's cross.

Smith ought to have cancelled out Odoffin's strike before that, free at the far post but unable to keep his volley down. Lindsay worked the Swede harder in the 90th minute, diverting Marc Bola's cross.

The Millers were helped by Reading’s six-point deduction but they have 49 points with power to add and that usually means safety.

In 2023 the yo-yo stopped. Like Fulham, Norwich City and Watford, the Millers finally quit fidgeting.

It is a huge achievement Taylor must take his share of the plaudits for, whether he likes it or not.

Rotherham United: Johansson; Harding, Humphreys, Wood, Bramall; Lindsay, Odoffin (Kelly 78), Rathbone (Hjelde 71); Ogbene (Fosu 18), Hugill, Ferguson (Wiles 40). Unused substitutes: Hemfrey, Kioso, Quina.

Middlesbrough: Steffen, Dijksteel, McNair, Lenihan, Bola; Barlaser, Hackney (Mowatt 60); Jones, Akpom, McGree (Crooks 80); Archer (Smith 46). Unused substitutes: Muniz, Bilongo, Roberts, Finch.

Referee: K Stroud (Hampshire).