Paul Warne's Rotherham United see fatigue catch up on them in 1-0 defeat to Luton Town

Injuries are mounting at Rotherham United too, with Joe Mattock going off with a calf strain and Shaun MacDonald missing the game with a broken leg expected to keep him out until January.

The Millers played well in the first 45 minutes without putting the Hatters away, and the visitors were allowed to get a second wind and claim a 1-0 win which should have been more comprehensive.

“The short version is I thought we were really good first half but we didn't create enough clear-cut chances but I thought we dominated play,” he said.

“I thought our first-half performance was good but second half it wasn't. I didn't think we were anything like we'd shown in the previous games.

“Whether that was a fatigue thing, I didn't make loads of changes so maybe that's on me. Nath (Jones, Luton's manager) made six changes and because he wins, that looks like the right decision. If we'd gone one or two up at half-time it might be a completely different press conference.

“I think we had a ten or 15-minute part of the second half where Luton thoroughly deserved their goal, they were on top and we just couldn't handle them.

“They were on top and they outplayed us, which is unfortunate.”

When Luton upped their game in the second half, Rotherham were unable to respond. Luke Berry hit the post and George Moncur and Harry Cornick missed good chances when the Hatters were dominant.

“I don't want to sit here and slaughter the lads, I just don't think we had a response,” said Warne. “Whether the lads had just given everything over the last few weeks and it was just a step too far that's on me, not them. Normally if we go a goal down I fancy us to get back in it but we just didn't have enough in the final third.

“We definitely need to freshen the team up for one more effort before the (international) break.”

The injury MacDonald picked up at Stoke City on Saturday was worse than first thought – the midfielder had wanted to play on but has broken his leg.

“His tib and fib smashed against each other when he fell so we won;t see him before Jan,” said Warne.

“That's a big blow for us and for Shaun, because I think he was in really good form.”

Mattock went off injured in the opening quarter of an hour, forcing Ben Wiles to fill in at left-back. Billy Jones would normally be able to provide cover but has a knee problem.

Jones said his team's first-half performance had been nowhere good enough, but he was delighted with the way they responded after the interval.

“I'm definitely pleased with the second-half performance but the first half was nowhere near good enough,” said the Welshman.

“We were sluggish first half, we got over-run in midfield.

“We knew they were an energetic side and you have to combat us but second half was more us – we took the game to Rotherham.

“We should have been two or three up by injury-time.”

Jones, whose side narrowly avoided relegation last season but is now pushing at the top end of the table was highly critical of the decision by an independent commission announced less than an hour before kick-off to halve Sheffield Wednesday's 12-point deduction for financial fair play breaches.

“I've got real good thoughts on that but not ones I can say to the press,” he said.

“The league weren't happy with the 12 they got so to half it to six – it'll be interesting to see what the league say because if people break the rules why are there rules in place? Otherwise it won't mean anything.

“Clubs like us do things right because we can't go out and spend above what we have otherwise people don't get paid.

“I would imagine there'd be outrage from some people. We've got to make sure it doesn't affect us.

“In a game where we look for fair it'll be interesting to see what happens.”

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