Matt Taylor reveals secret to Rotherham United's away-day turnaround, plus updates on Viktor Johansson and Dan Barlaser

Particularly in the Championship, where aside from the 2021/22 campaign when they won six times on their travels, Rotherham have been terrible on the road.

In the first two of their relegation seasons they managed only one win in 46 attempts away from the New York Stadium. Even that season when they claimed half a dozen victories, they still went down.

But in recently-appointed manager Matt Taylor, Rotherham have a coach at the helm who has imbued in his players a greater sense of resolve mixed with a structured sense of adventure when setting them up to tackle hosts.

So much so that they head to Cardiff on Saturday for the second game of five in six on the road before the Championship’s month-long break for the World Cup, confident of building on the win at Stoke 10 days ago and the draw at Coventry on Tuesday night, which would have been another three points had it not been for a hotly-disputed penalty award to the hosts in injury time.

Long-suffering followers of Rotherham can also look forward with a little more optimism than might previously have been the case to subsequent trips to Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town over the coming fortnight.

“Sometimes we set the team up slightly differently,” said Taylor, by way of explanation as to why his team have responded so well on the road, even in the 3-0 loss at Blackburn, in what was his second game in charge.

"It all depends on the opposition and where our points of engagement are on that football pitch, and where we want to press out from.

“As much as I was pleased with that Blackburn display, anyone who was at the game would have seen how open we were at times, and despite creating chances at one end it meant we had more to do in a defensive capacity.

“We’re certainly shored up certain positions and put an extra body in certain positions, but we’re still encouraging them to get up the pitch.

“At home we want to be a certain type of team, one which probably reflects the club and the fans as much as myself; and that’s getting the ball forward into the front two, being physical and trying to pin the opposition back. It’s more direct but it’s one that suits our home pitch, enabling us to try and steamroller teams.

“Away from home we have to control the game for longer periods. The signs have been good and we want to continue that against some serious opposition.

"We have to find ways of taking the steam out of the opposition attacks and also not only retaining possession, but also retaining energy in our legs and getting to a position where we can make the opposition work that little bit harder.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

To retain energy, Taylor is unafraid to shuffle his pack, resting players he thinks may benefit from being fresher in a game of two’s time. Midfielder Ollie Rathbone is a case in point.

"I said to him Tuesday I want him available for that five games instead of him being a bit part player in six," said Taylor.

“We hope he’s in a better position going into this weekend’s game, he brings a lot of energy for us.”

While Rotherham are far from the finished article under Taylor - and with a lot of travelling to come over the next 14 days there is little time to move closer to that position - the former Exeter boss is confident they go into this period believing they can take a few points off the so-called bigger clubs.

“We can’t complain about the fixtures, we have to look forward to it,” said Taylor, for whom the only home game before the World Cup break brings Norwich City.

“The players are in a good place mentally, physically I’ve got to keep them fresh. We might maneuvre certain situations, put some different personnel in there.

“We might have a slightly different look to what we do in our home games in terms of sacrificing certain areas of the pitch for the benefit of the team, but they’re taking that on board.

“These away games are opportunities to take points. We’re content with where we are in terms of league position, but everyone knows the standard of opposition we’re facing, we’ve just got to make sure we’re competitive going into that international break.”

Taylor also revealed he has one eye on January, and particularly the retention of star men like goalkeeper Viktor Johansson and midfielder Dan Barlaser, who have been two of the “standout players” of his tenure.

“Constant meetings behind the scenes,” said Taylor. “I’ve made it clear to the powers that be at the club what we want to try and achieve and it’s about putting our best offer in front of these players.

“Their stock is continuing to rise and they’re the players we want to build our team around.”