Rotherham United v Sheffield Wednesday - Huge pressure points on the line for Yorkshire rivals

Garry Monk is looking to change the culture at Hillsborough this season, whilst Paul Warne is fiercely protective of the Millers’. Ominously for the latter, both sides are winless at home this season.

Monk’s comments after Saturday’s defeat at Luton Town will chime with his opposite number.

“We are running our own race,” he said. “It’s a race that we constantly want to be doing well at but we are going to have to take some blows along the way.”

Typically, Warne had a more colourful way of describing his team’s frustrations. Rotherham have six points from their opening seven matches – Wednesday are on minus four after their summer deduction for financial breaches – but he believes their football is much better than that.

“Against Notts Forest we played really well but not for the whole 90 minutes (but drew 1-1),” he reflected. “Against Norwich (a 2-1 defeat) we played really well for most of the game, against Reading (Saturday’s 3-0 loss) for a lot of the game but it can’t become a trend because sooner or later you’re saying playing well and competing isn’t enough any more.

“We’ve just got to find a formula that wins games.

“The way we played against Reading gives you hope that if we continue to play that way, results should come but there’s no guarantee. The questions Reading asked us will be completely different to the ones Sheffield Wednesday will.

“If you’re playing well and winning you are on a Caribbean island with a can of Lilt living the dream and at the moment we haven’t got the can of Lilt. I can see the fridge, I just can’t get the can.”

Perhaps the differences between performances and results can be explained by the gap in quality between League One, where the Millers played last season, and the Championship.

Crucial moments at both ends have cost Rotherham, be it lapses in concentration defensively or inconsistent finishing. Having won promotion playing their way last season, Warne knows not to rip it up and start again.

“We have really good players here but instead of things being right seven times out of ten we need to get eight times out of ten,” he argued. “Our players are going in the right direction and it’s our job to keep them going in the right direction.

“The lads all know how we cause problems but we also have to develop as a team or all we’ll ever be is a League One team that’s got promoted. Fortunately after promotion the dressing room hopefully believes in what you do so my lads might tell you I’m a fruitcake but they would definitely tell you I have full belief in them and my coaches and what we’re trying to do.

“If it will be enough, I don’t know, but if the culture ever changes, I’ll leave.

“We’ve been tarred with playing long ball, which I think is a bit harsh, but it doesn’t bother me how other people see us.

“Fundamentally the way we play is the best way for us.

“There is a snobbery towards football. It’s about winning games and keeping fans happy.

“The more questions you can ask of an opponent the better. Unfortunately at the moment they seem to have the answers to them so we need to keep asking different questions.”

Monk, by contrast, is trying to change the culture and character of his squad, and back-to-back defeats will test that again.
“We will have setbacks but we haven’t got time to dwell on it,” he argued. “We have to be much better and hopefully some margins will start to go for us.

“It is not an easy job for anyone at the club. We have to stick together. There’s pressure – inward pressure, outward pressure and we are trying to find a way to deal with it. Overall, we have dealt with it pretty well.”

The Owls will be without the suspended Joost van Aken, but have Tom Lees, Dominic Iorfa and Izzy Brown pushing for inclusion after recent injuries. Rotherham have no new concerns.

One thing Warne does want to change is his side’s habit of conceding 90th-minute goals to their neighbours – three times in his five derbies.

“Luckily we don’t concede late goals this season so there’s no way we will this season!” he says sarcastically.

“We only have one way to play and that’s on the front foot to try and win games. I think Sheffield Wednesday will definitely come to our place with a good away record and try and win as well so I think there’ll definitely be goals.

“But I’ve definitely run over a cat on the way in if we conceded a last-minute goal to Sheffield Wednesday again!”

Last six games: Rotherham United LDLDDL; Sheffield Wednesday LLWDLL

Referee: J Smith (Lincolnshire)

Last time: Rotherham United 0 Sheffield Wednesday 1, August 28, 2019, League Cup.

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