'˜I'll give it my best shot' - Paul Warne vows to keep on fighting with Rotherham United

Paul Warne, Rotherham United’s interim head coach, wanted to taste victory against Norwich City because they were the team he worshipped from the terraces as a boy, and remain the club his family, and his wife’s family, still support today.

“My father’s ill, bless him,” said Warne, choking back tears in the post-match press conference. “So this will mean a lot.”

Tom Adeyemi had a point to prove to the club who signed him as a teenager, gave him his first professional contract, but who did not trust him enough to represent the first team for any length of time.

“My dad and grandad are still Norwich season-ticket holders so it was probably bittersweet for them, but it’s a day I’ll remember,” said Adeyemi, who attacked the back post in the 55th minute to head home the goal that would eventually prove the winner.

Then there was Jerry Yates, a 20-year-old striker from Doncaster. No Norwich links here, just a raw novice thrust into the role of lone frontman because Peter Odemwingie had left the club and top goal-scorer Danny Ward may soon follow to further his career.

Yates’s motivation was just as emotive, though. Twenty-four hours before making his first start for the Millers’ senior team, his grandfather had died.

After sweeping home Rotherham’s eighth-minute opener, Yates could not help but shed tears, and it was noticeable how every one of his team-mates rushed to the corner flag to congratulate him.

These three personal crusades, combined with a team performance full of spirit and character, added up to one of the happier days at Rotherham United this season. Such occasions have been few and far between.

For the all the uplifting narratives accompanying this welcome three points, there remains a grim context for the Millers.

Namely, that they remain odds-on to be relegated to League One after three years spent largely punching above their weight.

They showed on Saturday that they can still swing a few punches before they are finally counted out, but the reality is they hit the canvas back in the autumn and have struggled to square up to the division ever since.

A managerial appointment that went wrong in Alan Stubbs and the trust they placed in his recruitment policy, has hamstrung them. Kenny Jackett’s U-turn after five games as manager added to the external view that the 2016-17 season was beyond salvation for the Millers.

Warne is giving it his best shot, but he is as raw as they come in management terms. His emotions are close to the surface, and no matter how endearing it is to see him overcome when he talks about his father, it is hard to imagine a Steve Evans or a Neil Warnock – hardened individuals who kept Rotherham up in the last two seasons – showing such vulnerability.

“I still don’t think management is for me, I really don’t,” said Warne, for whom refreshing candour has become a hallmark. “But the chairman has asked me to do it until the end of the season so I will give it everything I’ve got.”

Warne’s players are playing for him, and the town is willing him on. He has brought back coaches in Matt Hamshaw, John Breckin and Mike Pollitt, who know what it means to wear the shirt. The gap to safety narrowed to nine points with this win, and while no-one is talking bombastically about survival, the restoration of pride is foremost in every Miller’s mind.

“We didn’t get too carried away, we know the position we’re in and know we have a lot of hard work to do to resolve it,” said Adeyemi, when asked about how victory was greeted.

“We’re still in a desperate situation but a win does give you that little bit of belief that you can do something. We’re not going to give up and we still believe we can get out of it. Everyone was just really happy, especially for Jerry.”

Yates showed great composure to slot home Adeyemi’s cutback on eight minutes and by 19 minutes their advantage increased when Nelson Oliveira was sent off for striking Kirk Broadfoot after he had already been penalised for fouling the Millers defender.

Broadfoot was called upon to head off the line as the 10 men of Norwich ended the first half on top and the equaliser that felt inevitable came six minutes after the break when Cameron Jerome headed Wes Hoolahan’s clipped cross in from four yards.

“When you’ve been used to losing you’re mentally fragile, but I thought we reacted really well,” said Warne. Indeed they did – Adeyemi stealing across his marker to glance home Joe Mattock’s cross. Broadfoot and Jon Taylor could both have sealed it in the latter stages, while at the other end, disorganised Norwich came closest through Steven Naismith, though his scuffed effort summed up their day.

Warne said: “If we can keep winning our home games and get a bit of confidence... I just don’t want the season to peter out.”

Rotherham United: Price; Fisher, Broadfoot, Wood, Mattock; Smallwood, Forde, Vaulks, Adeyemi, Newell (Taylor 68); Yates. Unused substitutes: Bilboe, Kelly, Wilson, Dawson, Belaid, Bailey.

Norwich City: Ruddy; Pinto, Klose, Martin, Whittaker; Howson (Jerome 24), Tettey; Murphy (Pritchard 68), Hoolahan, Naismith; Oliviera. Unused substitutes: McGovern, Bassong, Lafferty, Bennett, Murphy.

Referee: G Eltringham (County Durham).