Tranmere Rovers v Rotherham United: Millers must now learn to deal with expectation

Few would have been surprised if Rotherham had followed local rivals Chesterfield in being relegated from the third tier the season after reaching that level.

But the Millers have built on the momentum gained from last season and find themselves firmly in the promotion hunt going into the final months of the season.

Evans acknowledged: “The expectation from the town is now massive on us and there’s a difference in outperforming expectation to being able to deal with expectation.

“We’re now over halfway through the season, we desperately want to be in the play-off places (after tonight) because that was our aim going into January, to stay in that play-off zone.

“That’s now become the target to the end of February.

“What we’ve been able to do is put sequences of results together to get into the play-offs. To stay there we had to improve competition for places.

“Nothing will make Kari Arnason and Craig Morgan play better as a defensive partnership than having a couple of options come in to pressure them.”

Evans has matched the valuation for one more target he hopes to bring in before the close of the transfer window on Friday.

He is hopeful both Lee Frecklington and Alex Revell will be available for tonight’s trip to Tranmere. Rotherham’s game at Preston, scheduled for February 4, has been moved to February 25 due to North End’s FA Cup commitments.

Last six games: Tranmere WLDDLW, Rotherham WLLWWD.

Last time: Tranmere 2 Rotherham 1; January 1, 2007; League One.

Referee: D Drysdale (Lincolnshire).