Leeds United v Rotherham United: Under-estimate Millers at your peril, warns former Whites star

Leeds have unquestionably turned a corner under new head coach Steve Evans who former Whites striker Whelan has been deeply impressed with, in particular by working his troops hard during the international break.

The Whites even travelled to Wycombe Wanderers for a friendly last Friday evening and Whelan believes that continued commitment and avoiding complacency is just what Leeds need to build a longer sequence of wins.

United enter Saturday’s Yorkshire derby following back to back victories against Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town but Whelan said: “We’ve got to focus on the job in hand which is Rotherham United and that’s a massive game again.

“We’ve got to keep focusing and preparing properly and that’s what Steve is doing because he knows if he gives the players time off you could lose that fitness and sharpness which is massive and what he is doing is keeping that routine going.

“It’s about preparing properly and it’s going to be a big game.

“Yes, if we win it’s three wins on the bounce but let’s not get carried away.

“It’s just three wins and this is still the early stage of a very, very long campaign.

“It’s going to take a longer run of wins and being undefeated to start thinking ‘you know what, we might have a chance here.”

The game will also present the unusual situation of two bosses facing their most recent former clubs for the first time with former Rotherham head coach Evans pitting his wits against ex-Whites chief Redfearn.

Whelan added: “It’s one of these ones where there’s going to be more hype about the managers than the two teams.

“But really managers come and go from clubs all the time.

“Redders did a fantastic job for Leeds United, from youth level to professional level to first team and Steve did a great job at Rotherham.

“We can’t take anything away from these two men about their jobs and hard work they put into both clubs.

“But football is what it is - you don’t always stay at clubs, they have both moved on and they have both got jobs and rightly so because they are both fantastic managers who have got a lot to offer the game of football.

“I’m sure both sets of fans will applaud both managers, there won’t be any animosity and it will just be a great game of football. It will be great for them to pit their wits against each other again.”