Exeter City v Rotherham United: Ultra-competitive League One demands significantly better Millers, says Steve Evans

A frenzied recruitment drive which is not over yet as Evans looks for a winger (Sheffield Wednesday's Mallik Wilks is on the list), a player in the hole and a replacement for Ollie Rathbone, who joined Wrexham on Friday, but a theme has been experience not only of the division but of promotion.

Evans, inset, thinks that will be important as he looks for his team to lay down an early marker at Exeter City this evening.

Rotherham do not have the resources of big-spending Birmingham City or the Premier League – even European – pedigree of some teams in the division but they have a squad which looks ready to compete and Evans believes they will.

“There’s probably 15 managers, 15 chairmen and 15 sets of supporters in League One who think they can be there [in the promotion race] this season,” he said. "There’s probably 14 think behind Birmingham, so it's going to be tough.

“But nothing beats such a great competitive league.

“I'’e looked at Saturday's games as an experienced League One manager and I can't call half of them.

“The finance of League One this season is largely driven by the ownership models. If you look at Birmingham, a new ownership model, Charlton Athletic, Huddersfield, Barnsley.

“I was at Wembley for the play-off final last year watching and saying, ‘I’ve never seen Bolton play so poorly.'

“They’ve kept the majority of their squad and made the best two window signings outside [Rotherham’s Jonson] Clarke-Harris in the last few days [Jordi Osei-Tutu and Jay Matete]. It shows you the league.

“It’s significantly stronger this season so our performances need to be significantly better.

“Rotherham United’s always found a way to deal with that and we'll hopefully deal with that again this season.

Zak Jules, signed from Exeter in the summer, is a doubt after sickness but otherwise the Millers pick from a full squad.