Leam Richardson 'gutted' as Rotherham United are caught short by Sheffield Wednesday

The Millers were comfortably outplayed in the first half so did well to keep the game in the balance right until the last kick, but ultimately they could not complain about the 1-0 defeat.

"I'm frustrated – gutted for the fans really because it's a derby and you want to give a strong, positive result for them regardless," said coach Richardson.

"I thought we started the game okay, they then had the momentum – it (the ball) went up the pitch and stayed up the pitch for some time – corners, free-kicks and I think our lads got emotionally attached to the game a little bit.

"We took a foothold a little bit just before half-time and I thought the second half was probably evenly balanced.

"The goal (scored by Ike Ugbo in the second half) is horrendous from our point of view. It's the pattern at the minute, we're competitive to a level and then we're looking for that bit of quality and momentum to go our way as well."

Rotherham were handicapped by the absence of Ollie Rathbone, still struggling to recover from the concussion he suffered at Ipswich Town and an injury to Sean Morrison, compounded when an ankle problem forced Lee Peltier off at the start of the second half.

Wednesday's substitutes were decisive but Rotherham were unable to name a full bench, with only seven players to choose from where the visitors had nine.

Asked where he thought his team was found wanting, Richardson replied: "Just the decision-making, really.

"In the second half I thought we were competitive but you've got to be careful what you say because we're very fix-and-mend at the minute. We've got a lot of people playing out of position and a disparity in the squad so we're asking people to do different things.

"We're limited in a lot of areas, having seven subs on the bench in the Championship in March and one centre-half. It's always going to be a challenge."