Rotherham United 0 Luton Town 1 - No fireworks on the pitch for Millers

The Millers are still looking for the right centre-forward this season.

Freddie Ladapo’s pace and Michael Smith’s aerial power gives them different options but centre-forwards are measured in the goals that can turn bad performances into decent results and decent performances into wins.

Rotherham are not getting enough bang for their buck.

Last night’s second half was certainly the exception which proves the rule but generally they are playing well at the moment. You would not know it from looking at the league table.

The drone which stopped play was not the only unusual thing about last week’s South Yorkshire derby win over Sheffield Wednesday – it was also the only time Rotherham have won at home this season.

They were much the better team in the first half but with Ladapo on the bench and Smith’s finishing not sharp, they left themselves open to regrets.

In James Collins, Luton have a centre-forward who can punish profligacy.

With 20 minutes to play, he scored his fifth goal of the season. Rotherham’s whole squad only have eight in the league.

Had Collins’s team-mates had been as clinical, it could have turned into an embarrassing evening once the Hatters pulled themselves off the ropes and turned the game around.

An early injury to Joe Mattock could have unsettled the hosts, particularly as it forced Ben Wiles to drop from midfield into left-back to cover for him.

In the short-term it could have been more costly still with the substitute not ready to come on when Mattock left the pitch as slowly as possible after lengthy treatment.

Luton broke from Rotherham’s corner but Ryan Tunicliffe’s ball to George Moncur was cut out. The Hatters were dangerous on the counter-attack throughout the first half.

It was the Millers, though, setting the pace and after two goals against neighbours Wednesday at the same ground seven days earlier, midfielder Jamie Lindsay was leading the charge, forcing Simon Sluga into a good saves in the 14th and 22nd minute, the latter with a glancing touch at the end of a good near-post run to meet Wes Harding’s cross.

If Lindsay looked confident in front of goal, Smith did not.

He got into good positions without providing the finish, having a shot blocked midway through the first half, and not getting a clean contact on Florian Jozefzoon’s right-wing cross.

“Come on Dan, one quality ball,” implored Paul Warne as Barslaser lined up a free-kick but while he did his job, Smith was only able to head at Sluga.

He towered above the visiting defence in the 48th minute, but again made it easy for the goalkeeper.

Luton only saw a third of the ball in the first half, but their attacks tended to be more piercing.

Michael Ihiekwe did well to cut out Luke Berry’s pass bound for Harry Cornick, and Jamal Blackman made a good low save to keep out Moncur as he ran onto a Cornick pull-back.

Matty Pearson finished the half with a good run from right-back, but shot wide.

They made a change at half-time, and came out unwilling to let Rotherham dictate again.

Collins ought to have scored from a left-wing cross but somehow failed to get a decisive touch and when Cornick allowed Ihiekwe to clear his shot, Tunnicliffe’s disappointment was clear to hear in the empty stadium.

Berry had a shot deflected wide before delivering the curling free-kick which Collins found the net from.

It should have been more had Moncur’s finish matched the run which created it, and Berry not hit the post after cutting inside a minute later.

Rotherham were game in the final 15 minutes, with Warne urging them to keep their cool as he briefly took off his puffa jacket and bobble hat but as in the first half, you never really believed they would score.

With Sheffield Wednesday six points better off, the league table does not look as good as it should for the Millers.

Rotherham United: Blackman; Harding, Ihiekwe, A MacDonald, Mattock (Crooks 12); Barlaser, Wiles, Lindsay; Jozefzoon (Ladapo 80), Smith, (Hirst 59) Miller. Unused substitutes: Johansson, Wood, Vassell, Sadlier.

Luton Town: Sluga; Pearson, Rea, Bradley, Cranie; Tunnicliffe, Morrell (Mpanzu 46), Berry, Moncur (Lockyer 89); Collins, Cornick (LuaLua 64). Unused substitutes: Shea, Lee, Bree, Nombe.

Referee: A Madley (Huddersfield).

Wycombe netted an injury-time winner as they continued their revival with a 2-1 victory at Birmingham to lift them off the Championship basement.

A Kristian Pedersen own goaland Scott Kashket’s 76th-minute equaliser earned victory.

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