Rotherham 2 Stevenage 1: Play-offs are minimum target for ‘ugly’ Millers, says Frecklington

The Millers lacked their usual fluency and tempo against bottom-of-the-league Stevenage and when Francois Zoko equalised – negating Wes Thomas’s first-half strike – even home fans at the New York Stadium could not have begrudged the visitors a point.

But in a match devoid of quality, up popped captain Lee Frecklington to deliver a stunning long-range effort to pinch all three points.

It was tough on Stevenage, but midfielder Freckington has been involved in enough hard-luck stories with Rotherham this season – where performances have not delivered points – to take victory however it comes.

“The teams who do well are the teams who play ugly and win,” said Frecklington. “This season, that’s something we have not managed to do.

“We have had a lot of very disappointing results here, we have played a lot better (than Saturday) and haven’t won.

“Against Stevenage, we know ourselves we have’t played to the level we should have, but have managed to scrape three points.

“I don’t think our tempo was as good as it has been in recent weeks, but they played very well and made it difficult for us.”

Victory over Stevenage was only Rotherham’s sixth home win in 16 League One matches at the New York Stadium this season.

When you consider top two Brentford and Wolverhampton have double that number of home wins, it is a statistic that may result in the Millers, who are seven points better off than seventh-placed Walsall, having to accept a play-off spot come the end of the season.

This does not worry the Millers’ squad and Frecklington believes they have enough quality to not only clinch back-to-back promotions but also to survive in the Championship next season.

“Our squad this season is probably one of the best I have played in,” said the former Peterborough United midfielder.

“We have a lot of players that have played in the Championship and young players that could play there. There’s no reason if we did get to the Championship why we couldn’t stay at that level.

“We are not stupid, we know how difficult this league is. We have to take each game as it comes. I know it’s a cliche, but all we can do is prepare for Carlisle and get another three points, then another three points after that and see where we finish at the end of the season.

“We want to finish in the play-off places, minimum.

“We are exactly where we want to be. People can say what they like, outside of Rotherham, but we were always hopeful and ambitious enough to have a good go at this league this year.

“We have put ourselves in a good position and, with 16 games to go, a lot of people might not have expected us to be there, but we are.

“We just have to keep it going and hopefully finish the season strong, like we did last year.”

Ben Pringle had Rotherham’s first effort on goal, a 25-yard free-kick which Stevenage goalkeeper Chris Day comfortably saved.

Both goalkeepers were being tested, Millers’ Adam Collin plucking out Zoko’s header and Day proving alert to thwart Alex Revell’s flick at Pringle’s cross.

The visitors looked threatening in attack, Luke Freeman drifting into space only for the impressive Kieran Agard to block his shot and Kari Arnason then went close to netting an own goal when he sliced clear from Simon Heslop.

The opening goal came four minutes before the break, and it was a case of third time lucky.

Both Thomas and Agard saw their efforts blocked and the danger seemed to have gone when the ball was cleared to right-back Mark Bradley.

The defender pinged the ball across goal and former Bournemouth striker Thomas was lurking at the far post to fire home his second goal for the Millers.

Despite furious protests from the visiting dugout, who claimed a foul on goalkeeper Day in the build-up to the goal, referee Scott Mathieson allowed the goal to stand.

Collin denied Peter Hartley an immediate response from Stevenage, whose support was bolstered by Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton fans after their 
FA Cup game was called off due to a waterlogged Hillsborough pitch, and Claude Davis’s tackle prevented Darius Charles getting in an effort on goal.

Millers defender Arnason was fortunate to see the ball clear his own crossbar after a teasing cross from Felipe Morais, and Day pushed away Revell’s well-struck shot before Thomas headed over.

Iceland international Arnason was having an impressive afternoon at the heart of the Millers’ defence, highlighted when he pulled off a goal-saving tackle to deny Heslop in full flow with 10 minutes to go.

Having used all three substitutes, Rotherham were forced to leave Bradley on the pitch, despite the right-back carrying a back injury, and the visitors profited when Zoko utilised the extra space to lash home from a corner in the 86th minute.

With the travelling supporters hardly having time to launch into a chant of “We are staying up”, Frecklington wrecked their afternoon with a composed finish from outside the area.

“It was an ugly game and we knew from the first whistle that it wasn’t going to be one of those open, free-flowing games,” said the match-winner.

“That’s the way Stevenage play, they make it very difficult, are very strong and organised. Luckily, we went in at half-time leading, when I don’t think we should have been. They had two or three good chances and Adam (Collin) had made some fantastic saves.”

It was Frecklington’s ninth goal of the campaign and he said: “If you can get 10 goals from midfield I think you can say you have had a fairly good season.”

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