Rotherham United boss Matt Taylor dismayed after second beating at hands of Stoke City

The 6-1 thrashing – this time in the second round of the Carabao Cup – came just three weeks after a trip to the bet365 Stadium on the opening day of the Championship campaign produced a 4-1 defeat.

And, although this latest setback for the Millers came in the cup, it didn’t make it any easier to take for the Millers boss, who is still waiting for his team to enjoy success in the league.

“Some of those players can perform better than they did,” said Taylor. “We knew what Stoke were going to come with because we faced it three weeks ago in the first game of the season, and we still couldn’t match their speed and intensity.

"It was painful for everyone and everyone involved with the football club really. I knew the team going into that game was a weaker team than what we wanted to put out, but it was needs must in relation to that.

"I still expected more from individuals and as a collective performance - no disrespect to some of the personnel on that pitch."

Stoke took an early lead when debutant Wouter Burger drove home from long distance after picking up Cameron Humphreys’ headed clearance.

Ryan Mmaee doubled the home side’s advantage in the 18th minute, beautifully bending the ball into the net and although Rotherham captain Sean Morrison’s header from a Cafu corner swiftly halved the deficit, Stoke restored their two-goal lead just before the half-hour mark when Josh Laurent arrowed a shot into the bottom corner after picking up possession outside the box.

The advantage was further extended as half-time approached, with Tyrese Campbell curling his effort in off the crossbar.

Any slender hopes the visitors had of staging a comeback were dashed in the 55th minute, when Laurent latched onto Campbell’s headed pass and rifled the ball home. Another Stoke debutant – Mehdi Leris – completed the rout 18 minutes from time.

The frustration for Taylor was intensified after having seen his players perform so well in a 2-1 defeat at home to Leicester City on Saturday.

"It was such a shame when it came off the back of such a positive performance at the weekend,” he added. "You can't defend like we did tonight. We knew what was coming because we faced it on the first game of the season.

"Even with a different shape and personnel it was the same outcome. Stoke really do force you into becoming a certain type of team. Can we control the space around the ball? We struggled to that. Can we control the space away from the ball? We struggled to do that."