'Difficult question' - Rotherham United boss left deflated as errors thwart them against Newport County

Some coaches can find positives in a steaming pile of manure, but Rotherham United's did not have to look far.

His switch to four at the back worked well against Newport County.

The players he brought in after doing well from the bench at Fleetwood Town justified their selection – Jayce Fitzgerald's terrific pass and Aaron Nemane's cool finish showcased that.

The Millers played some good stuff to race into a 2-0 lead after 13 minutes. The crowd was sparse but not distracted by anger at owner Tony Stewart.

A four-match losing streak ended – and they escaped the relegation zone three days after dropping in.

So Bruce, inset, was asked if it was a step forward.

"No, I think it's a disappointing night," he said after a 2-2 draw.

He sounded a lot like Daniel Stendel the day before, reflecting on Barnsley's defeat at home to Cambridge United.

"You cannot say, I did ten things right and one thing not right and we lost," the Reds coach commented.

Rotherham did a lot right on Tuesday. Had Jordan Wright not made a good save from Dominic Iorfa at 2-1, Bruce probably would have bounced into the room like Tigger, not sloped in like Eeyore.

Had they got one thing "not right", maybe two, they might have won. But three were bloody awful.

Hamish Douglas got into a clumsy position to concede a penalty to set nerves jangling.

Then, after 54 minutes, Jamie Jellis turned into trouble deep but would have got away with it had Julian Eyestone not fumbled Michael Adu-Poku's shot to serve up a gift.

There was plenty of time to put it right, but Rotherham's confidence had been punched out of them.

At least they did not concede a third. Another positive to ignore.

"I can think of six or seven goals that we've basically given to the opposition through individual errors this season," moaned Bruce, who will try to find out if the niggle which took Denzel Hall off was cramp or something longer lasting.

"I can't think of too many coming our way – just Paul Mullin when he scored against Chesterfield when their lad slipped. You can legislate for the odd mistake but at the minute we're just making too many basic errors."

How do you stop the mistakes?

"Very difficult question," he replied. "I think it's just a case of showing what you can do better and hopefully, just hoping you don't keep making them."

The Millers need confidence. Confidence comes from wins, but wins come from confidence.

"Confidence can come and go as quickly either way," said Bruce.

"I said to the lads before the game, teams can lose two or three on the bounce and be affected by it but you can quickly in this league win three and four on the bounce.

Bruce is using the word hope a lot. On Tuesday it was the hope that killed him.