Rotherham United v Reading: Millers chase further milestones to put gloss on breakthrough week

The emotional scenes immediately after their late victory at Cambridge United in midweek represented the moment of the season so far for everyone connected with the Millers, not least manager Steve Evans.

Rotherham's first away victory since way back in November 8, 2022 - or 693 days if you prefer - felt cathartic and it was also relieving for the player whose goal ended that epic wait in Sam Nombe.

The former Exeter City player has done it tough since joining the club for a sizeable fee and it was just his second league goal of 2024 and first away from the AESSEAL New York Stadium.

His manager is hoping that proves to be a significant event in his time at the club.

Evans said: "We hope it's significant for him. Strikers thrive on confidence.

"I've got to know Sam since I came in in April and he's the kind of guy you want your daughter to come home with. He's such a nice kid.

"But as I remind him: 'I don't want a nice kid, I want a ruthless striker. It was good to see.

"We'd all said we'd accept a goal going in off someone's backside to give us a win.

"Sam had a big smile on his face when he left the Abbey Stadium and when he came in for training on Thursday. It was good to see young Sam like that."

The next mission for Nombe is goals in successive league matches, while you have to go back almost two years for the last time that the Millers won back-to-back games at league level - which represents a fair old wait.

Should Rotherham achieve that this afternoon, then their campaign will finally be off and running and all and sundry will be breathing a little bit easier and the league table will start to look a bit more pleasurable.

Evans added: "Winning so late was an incredible feeling. If you could bottle that feeling, you could sell it for millions of pounds.

"The win was important. You could see what it meant to our supporters. Now, we have to focus on playing a really good Reading side."