Rotherham United v Cambridge United: Mental test for Millers after weekend let-down

After a disappointing first half of the season, the Millers looked to be getting it together. Since the Boxing Day defeat at home to Wigan Athletic they had alternated between draws and wins for the next six matches. So it was a surprise to see them lose 4-2 at the side second-bottom of League One – even more so when loanee Louie Sibley put them in front two minutes into his debut.

“I said to the players afterwards, when you play certain opposition in this league, you need to be humble to win promotion," revealed Evans, who clearly still has that as his aim. "It's not just about how you play, you need to have humility. We lacked that. We hit a wall but we'll bounce back. That's what we had to do four weeks ago."

Rotherham's recent resurgence was based around a midfield diamond formation.

But a first-half performance which saw them concede three goals in 31 minutes was so poor, Evans felt forced to switch to a 3-5-2 formation. He must decide whether to stick to that or go back to the formula that worked so well in the previous six games.

Given that League One's Hollywood team, Birmingham City, are Saturday's hosts, that game should look after itself when it comes to the Millers' mentality, but Cambridge remain behind Burton on goal difference.

They also won on Saturday to lift them up to 22nd and ease the pressure on former Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United manager Garry Monk.

Just one point separates the four teams in the relegation zone.

Results elsewhere kept Rotherham 13th, eight points off play-off places.

Evans, pictured, is continuing to look for additions to his squad, buoyed by the instant impact of Sibley, his first signing this month.

“We wanted someone who could add a bit of quality," he said. "Shaun McWilliams (now injured) has been very good for us. We wanted to leave the other players in the same positions. The natural fill-in was Louie. He came in and trained really well.

“I think he covered every blade of grass. He's not had a lot of competitive starts with Oxford but he's had a lot of training-ground games so he was ready to play.”