'Hurt' Matt Hamshaw would have taken four points from two home games - but knows Rotherham United desperately need more
Matt Hamshaw admits that if a week ago someone had offered him four points and two clean sheets from successive home games, when previous defeats had been greeted by a chorus of “sacked in the morning” from his own fans, he would gladly have taken it.
And yet when that reality came about, the sense of what should have been was the over-riding emotion. Rotherham momentarily halted their slide out of League One with a strong performance and victory over Plymouth on Saturday.
But they were unable to build on that momentum on Tuesday against Mansfield Town, when a “flat” showing as Hamshaw acknowledged, resulted in a goalless draw. It moved the Millers up a place to third-bottom and just two points adrift of safety, but with a little more urgency it could have been more.
“With the run that we were on, definitely,” he said when asked if he’d have taken the four points.
“But people know I want to win games, so it’s tinged with disappointment.
“I just don't think we did enough to win that game, and that's the bit that hurts me. I thought we lacked a bit of conviction and confidence which is surprising after Saturday.”
One positive has been the form of goalkeeper Ted Cann. After Cameron Dawson’s costly mistake against Doncaster Rovers last Saturday week, the 25-year-old has been beaten only once in 270 minutes of football since taking over the gloves.
“I thought he made a real top-quality save in the first half from Jon Russell,” said Hamshaw.
“He flew out a couple of times and my heart was in my mouth.
“All in all, he's done really well to say he's only just made his league debut. Back-to-back clean sheets is something to build on. The beauty of these three games has been the fact that we've been able to put the same defenders out there. But that might change this weekend.”
That is because Zak Jules went off with an ankle issue. Dru Yearwood (calf) is also a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Huddersfield.