Rotherham United will back manager Matt Taylor in January after good first impression

So will a strong few weeks when the Championship resumes next week.

Since replacing Paul Warne in October, Taylor has made it clear he wants the squad remodeled to give different options. Douglas believes a good first impression will see him given the tools to do it.

"I think Matt Taylor will be backed in January," he said.

"Warney (Taylor’s predecessor Paul Warne) was a great manager, I won't have a bad word said about him. When he left we were all concerned about it but we got a shortlist and got one of the two lads we wanted.

"We weren't looking for a Paul Warne clone, we were looking for somebody who had worked in similar circumstances with restraints and parameters around spending and achieved a lot.

"He’s surpassed most of our expectations. He's a great guy and I've got a lot of time for him and a lot of hope for him."

Douglas said avoiding a fourth consecutive Championship relegation – the club's over-riding aim for 2022-23 – would make summer recruitment much easier but being clear of the relegation zone could help in January too.

“January's a tough window, a seller's market," he warned.

"We have our strategies and I'm sure the stronger we look and the better position we're in can only be beneficial for us.

"Particularly looking at loan players – and I'm not suggesting we're only looking at loan players but they're a critical part of any club's portfolio – bigger clubs than us are more likely to loan us a player if they think we're playing a brand of football conducive to that player's development and not parking the bus. That was never the case with Warney either."