Rotherham United v Coventry City: Matt Taylor says Millers want to 'fight, not tread water'

Andre Green is the latest and most serious, the former Sheffield Wednesday winger ruled out for 12 months with a ruptured tendon. The extra rest time caused by Friday's postponement at home to Ipswich Town may not be enough for Grant Hall to be passed fit to face Coventry City on Wednesday.

With the likes of Cameron Humphreys, Tyler Blackett, Shane Ferguson also missing and Jamie Lindsay still working his way back to fitness, the Millers are doing it tough in a season where they have often been unable to name a full bench.

Add in a sense they have been on the wrong end of more bad refereeing decisions than their opponents, and there is plenty for the side second-bottom of the Championship to feel sorry about but Taylor says his players are not interested in that.

"Full credit to them for trying to be the best versions of themselves," he said. "People will say its their job but they've been through a fair amount and you can sense where we are with our bodies and our minds as a club.

"We can fight or tread water. I want the former.

"It's easy for me to say with a full set of players as opposed to just picking who's fit.

“It doesn’t look like Grant Hall is going to be available, but I’m not going to rule him fully out yet. He’s had a bit of an injury setback and we’ve given him a jab, so hopefully that’ll get his injury moving in the right direction."

Unsurprisingly as they rebuild the side after missing out on promotion in May's play-off final, Coventry have had a slow start to the season, stuck in the bottom half after 12 games.

But under the management of former Millers striker-turned-manager Mark Robins, Taylor is convinced they will come good.

“They are such a strong team at this level and did unbelievably well last season to get to where they did," he reflected.

“They then lost two of the best players in the league when they sold Gus Hamer (to Sheffield United) and Viktor Gyokeres (to Sporting Lisbon), which is obviously a big loss for any team to overcome.

“They’ve reinvested the money very well, but once you lose two players of that ilk, it is always going to take time to adjust. They are going through that process at the moment to a certain extent.

“They were very unlucky not to get something out of that game on Saturday (a 1-0 defeat at Bristol City). They should’ve been ahead – and ahead early. That has probably been a pattern of their season so far, they should’ve picked up more points than they have.

“They’ll be looking to put that right this week, but we know when we’re at home that we’re capable of competing with anyone.

“They are defensively strong and they’ve carried that one. They are hard to score past and have invested in some good quality as well.

“As a team, they are probably still finding their feet, but it is very early on in the season and I’m sure as the season progresses, Coventry will be where they need to be.”