Rotherham United v York City ACROSS the dual carriageway at Rotherham United's former Millmoor home - which the bulldozers finally started dismantling this week - York City were pretty frequent visitors.

The same cannot be said about the AESSEAL New York Stadium, although the Minstermen were involved in a historic match there back in September 2012.

That saw the Millers play their first-ever competitive night fixture at their current home, with City triumphing 1-0 in the EFL Trophy.

Saturday will be a milestone one not only for York - in their maiden league away game back as a Football League club - but also Alex Bruce.

Alex Bruce has signed a deal at Rotherham United until the summer of 2028. Picture courtesy of RUFC.

placeholder image — Alex Bruce has signed a deal at Rotherham United until the summer of 2028. Picture courtesy of RUFC.

He will be in the home dug-out for the first occasion in a league fixture.

The NYS may have much better facilities than Millmoor ever had, but - at its imposing best - it is a tough place, football-wise, just as the Millers' old abode was.

It is something that Bruce can vouch for and wants to recreate.

The Millers manager said: "I know from playing at the New York Stadium, what a tough place it can be for visiting teams.

York City manager Scott Lindsey (Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

"I remember playing against Kieffer Moore for Wigan. I think it was first versus second in League One.

"I remember the atmosphere bouncing and was thinking 'God, it's a tough place to come, this.' That's what I have to try to create.

"The supporters need to see a little bit on the pitch for them to go with it. I know it's a bit of a cliché; we need to try to create a little bit of a fortress so teams don't want to come to the New York Stadium.

"It's a nice place to play (at). We have to make it as difficult and ugly as possible for the opposition."

Promoted York may still be acclimatizing to life under Scott Lindsay after he replaced a firm fans' favourite in Stuart Maynard, but Bruce has seen enough to expect a testing afternoon.

He continued: "We saw how well Rochdale and York did last year. That game at the end of the season was amazing, wasn't it? The points total they accumulated was amazing.

"I know they've changed managers, but it'll be a tough game - you can see from the result that they had last week."