Stoke City 1 Rotherham United 0 - Millers looked jaded, admits Paul Warne

James McClean scored the winner after Rotherham failed to deal with Angus Gunn’s goal-kick on 27 minutes.

Michael Miller came closest to finding an equaliser when he shot just over five minutes later.

“I don’t think we created enough,” said Warne. “We came here to win but we just looked jaded from midweek.

“That is on me and I should have made more changes. I could have made changes but we played well in midweek so it is hard to make the changes.

“The goal was a bit of a freak goal and to lose on a long ball straight down the middle is a bitter part.

“If we are going to have a great season then we have to eradicate those errors. I’m not criticising the goalkeeper. I don’t think there was much he could do.

“We should have six or seven points more. We go into every game trying to win and I am looking up the table not down.

“We have been competitive and we are disappointed to lose at Stoke which shows how far we have come.

“We have a good group and I am happy with our start.

“Sometimes you don’t play at your best and we would have taken a point. We were competitive but just not at our best in the final third.

“We played Wednesday, Stoke played Tuesday and 24 hours rest can make a big difference.”

Stoke City: Gunn, Souttar, Batth, Fox, Smith, Mikel, Thompson (Cousins 78); McClean, Campbell (Brown 78), Powell (Oakley-Boothe 89), Fletcher. Unused substitutes: Lindsay, Ince, Vokes, Nna Noukeu.

Rotherham United: Blackman, Harding, Ihiekwe, Angus MacDonald, Mattock; Jozefzoon, Shaun MacDonald (Crooks 59), Lindsay (Smith 59); Barlaser, Miller, Ladapo (Hirst 70). Unused substitutes: Johansson, Wood, Wiles, Sadlier.

Referee: D Bond (Lancashire).

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.