Stoke City v Rotherham United - Joe Mattock aims to keep Millers in tune for survival battle

But in the here and now, the footballing beat goes on for the experienced full-back with being in holiday mode being the last thing in the mindset of he and his team-mates, who are scrapping for their Championship lives.

By contrast, the campaign as a competitive entity is over for today’s opponents Stoke City, with one of the division’s pre-season promotion favourites having endured a massively underwhelming season.

A senior player with over a decade of experience under his belt, Mattock – while being the first to acknowledge the quality at the Potters’ disposal – knows that the finale to seasons can be all about attitude.

Mattock said: “You have got to be careful not to go into holiday mode. We have a group who are dedicated with a lot of desire to try and get ourselves out of the relegation trouble.

“We are in a bit of a battle. The lads are fighting for their lives and they know that.

“The team and club are still positive and the staff always will be as well.

“We have a good bunch of lads and no-one’s heads will go down at all and that is something you can count on.”

The Millers may head into the game on the back of a painful 2-1 loss to 10-man Aston Villa but Mattock insists that their glass is very much half-full on the back of a magnificent first-half display which saw them lead against the division’s form side in a half in which they played with their full quota of players for 34 minutes.

On replicating the hunger, desire and intensity of that first half against Villa, he added: “We will go into the game with our heads held high and for a fight and we will definitely be ready for it.

“Teams like Stoke will not want to play against that. If we go there on the front foot and start as we did against Aston Villa, I do not think they will want to play against a team like that.”