Rotherham United v West Brom: Tom Bradshaw on 'stick' from Alex Bruce's famous footballing father

Bradshaw, who came close to signing for the Millers a number of years ago and was a player who the club were also interested in back in January, has finally pinned his colours to the club's mast.

A debut in today's cup-tie with West Brom might come a little bit too soon, given that he only officially signed on Wednesday and is lacking match sharpness, but his value and experience is likely to come into its own in time for the Millers, who have signed trialist defender Sonny Aljofree on a two-year deal with an option year in the club’s favour.

On signing up for Bruce junior's Millers mission, Bradshaw told The Yorkshire Post: "I'm good friends with Matt Smith (ex-Millwall team-mate), who's obviously his brother-in-law (Alex Bruce’s).

"Steve Bruce gave me a bit of a stick the other night because he tried to sign me at Blackpool before I went to Oxford.

"He was saying: 'you've signed for my son and you didn't sign for me!'. Through connections and stuff, it feels really familiar (with Alex). And we had a great phone call before coming down here. It's been great so far.”

The seniority of Bradshaw and Paul Mullin is likely to be leant upon heavily by Bruce this season as he strives to turn the Millers in the right direction again after three fraught seasons for the club.

On the project ahead, Bradshaw continued: "I think that's not new to me, really.

"I've never been generally at a club that's just eased through a league. When I was at Millwall, it was a lot tougher than it ended up being obviously, now. In the first couple of years, it was a case of trying to stay up.

"They were quite difficult years with managerial changes at the start. And the same with Barnsley. My second year there, when I was there permanently, was a tough season.

"So I've been through those tough times as well, and I know that they're hard to get through. But it feels to me, coming in here, that the lads are all chatting and happy and it seems like a real fresh energy to it. And I think we should all be positive about the new season."

After being seriously deficient in terms of numbers around a fortnight ago, the Millers have got a number of deals over the line since to significantly boost Bruce's hand in time for the new campaign.

The side that takes the field against West Brom is likely to be reasonably close to the one which lines up at Cheltenham Town in the club's League Two opener on Saturday week, all being well.

Asked whether he knows his best 11 is, as it stands, Bruce added: "Yes, I'd like to think I've got a pretty solid idea, but I have to take into consideration as well where certain individuals are at.

"In terms of what's available for me on Saturday, I think it'll be as close to the best team I feel as if I've got available.

"There'll be a couple of positions where there's not much in certain individuals, but that's all about what having a good squad is about,” he said.

One player not involved is young centre-half Hamish Douglas, who picked up an Achilles injury last month.

Bruce commented: "He's joined back into training, but he's been out for a good few weeks.”