Paul Warne worried about a Covid-19 outbreak at Rotherham United

The Millers beat Cambridge United 1-0 on Saturday afternoon after the weekend's fixture calendar was hugely disrupted by a number of Covid outbreaks at clubs in the Premier League and EFL.

In total, 25 matches were postponed in the top four divisions of English football.

Rotherham were hit hard by Covid-19 last campaign, with several outbreaks leading to a late-season fixture pile-up in the midst of a relegation battle.

Warne does not want to see a repeat of that this year as the Miller seek an immediate return to the Championship.

"I am worried," admitted the Millers chief.

"I wanted this game on today, there is no disputing that. We are Covid-scarred more than any other club, it really had a massive effect on us last season.

"I don't want loads of fixtures, I don't want a pile-up. Luckily we are okay but the testing starts in vigour next week and I am worried.

"We have no Under-23s to lean on and hopefully we will have enough for Boxing Day. I will be devastated if the games still don't go ahead. The lads can live the best life but still catch it.

"I am not going to be critical of them but I want them to stay as healthy as they can."

Warne’s side remain two points clear at the top of the League One table courtesy of the 1-0 success at the Abbey Stadium.

Daniel Barlaser scored the only goal of the game midway through the second half while captain Richard Wood produced a goal-line clearance in stoppage time.

“There were times in the game where I thought a point would be a good point. They asked a lot of questions. I was really impressed with them when they came to the New York Stadium a few weeks ago and they’re one of the hardest competitors we’ve played,” said Warne.

“There wasn’t any natural flow to the game, first half, didn’t feel we really got into it the way we could.

“I wasn’t over the moon at half-time. We weren’t as physical as possible, we didn’t win as many first balls so we never got seconds.

“In the second half we were better and from a neutral point of view, it must have been a great game to watch because it was both teams trying to go for the win. We’d have a shot, they’d have a shot and then luckily one of our shots went in.

“That’s probably the easiest way to sum up the game. Either team could have won it.

“We’re going to have games where we don’t play at our best and that’s due to the respect of the opposition.

“Today it felt like a big win because Cambridge didn’t let us play at our best, they caused all sorts of problems and we’ve managed to come away unscathed.”