Rotherham United v Shrewsbury: Warne wary of Shrews challenge facing Millers

Famously, Warne presided over the Millers’ promotion-clinching League One play-off final victory against the Shrews, managed by his former Millmoor team-mate and good friend Paul Hurst, at Wembley in May 2018.

That had followed a 1-0 victory in the league fixture in Shropshire just over three months earlier, while more recently, Rotherham inflicted more misery upon Town by virtue of a crushing 4-0 Carabao Cup win at Montgomery Waters Meadow in August.

The Millers head into this latest fixture in renewed heart following a fine 6-1 demolition of Bolton Wanderers and an excellent second-half display in a 1-1 midweek draw at Sunderland.

It has given rise to the belief that, after a disrupted start to the season, Warne’s side can finally elevate themselves towards the business positions of League One.

But Warne himself is remaining circumspect and is also reading little into his side’s Cup cruise last month.

On the test against the Shrews, who actually won on their last trip to the AESSEAL New York Stadium, he said: “It has been a good week and if we get another positive result, it would be fantastic to pick up seven points from the last three games.

“However, I do have to state that the Shrewsbury team we will come up against will be completely different to the one that we faced in the Carabao Cup, and we have made that point.

“We cannot go into it thinking that, because we were impressive at their place and won comfortably, that it is going to happen again. It is a whole new test.

“They are above us in the league and they will come here full of confidence.

“It will be a very difficult game as they all are in this division, so we definitely will not underestimate them and we will respect them fully.”

Wary heading into today’s game he may be, but Warne is rather more effusive when it comes to discussing the character of his side which has shone through impressively over the past week.

After a frank dressing room post-mortem into the disappointing second-half performance in the derby loss at Doncaster Rovers a fortnight ago, Warne’s players have stood tall since, including loan keeper Daniel Iversen, who is proving a reassuring last line of defence for the South Yorkshire club.

The displays of the Leicester City under-23 custodian are underlining just why the Millers swiftly made him their No 1 
goalkeeping target in the summer.

“The nicest thing I can say about Dan is that it looks like he has been here a long while, which is probably the best compliment I could pay him,” Warne added.

“You want them to be brave and help out your back four. He is a calming influence back there and I really like Lewis Price as well and he keeps Dan on his toes and ensures that he keeps his standards high.”