Shrewsbury v Rotherham: Honest approach paying off for Millers

There have been moments of fortune in those nine games – although assistant manager Richie Barker also stresses they should have won the one match they dropped points in – but this is a team with the mentality promotion winners have.

“We went away to a team who were in the play-offs and won 1-0,” he says of Saturday’s victory at Plymouth Argyle. “Our goalkeeper (Josh Vickers) played pretty well but sometimes you have to expect your goalkeeper to play pretty well and we could have had three or four goals as well.

“But I think we set such a high standard and we were excellent at Doncaster and had scored five a couple of times before that – Sunderland, Gillingham and four against Portsmouth – it was going to be so tough to maintain.

“I watched Manchester City on Saturday evening. They played against Everton, who are fourth from bottom (of the Premier League). They scored from a mistake and should have given a penalty away. I don’t know if that many people are questioning Man City because they only won 1-0, or are they saying they’re true champions because they know how to win games when they’re not playing very well?

“Do we need a bit of luck? Yeah, we do – a couple of teams have hit the post against us over the last few weeks – however we’ve hit the woodwork a few times.

“We want utopia, we want to play a game where no one gets a shot against us and we create loads of opportunities and dominate the game but that ain’t going to happen, even against teams in the bottom four.

“We’ve found a way to win and the teams that get promoted will be the ones that adapt to not playing very well but keep winning.”

Barker says the squad keeps things in perspective with honesty from both coaches and players.

“Winning’s a habit and losing is and whichever one you get into, it’s very difficult to get out of it,” he argues. “As footballers who are mentally a tad fragile – and I’m not just talking about ours – you can convince yourself you’ll never get beaten or never win again and that’s why teams go on runs both ways.

“It’s part of our role as coaches to find that middle ground. Sometimes you’re winning and it’s not so good but there have definitely been times when we’ve lost (not many!) and we say, ‘You were the better side so keep playing like that.’

“After Morecambe (a 2-0 home win) I was quite brutal with them after the game but after Wigan (a 1-1 draw) I was quite honest with them that they should have won.

“Some of them appreciate the honesty, some of them probably haven’t had as many negatives thrown at them once they’ve won a game. Ollie Rathbone has spent most of his time in the last few years at the bottom end of League One with Rochdale and must have come in after the Morecambe game thinking he couldn’t believe what was happening here because we’d just won a game 2-0 and kept a clean sheet.

“Some of the lads came in and had a few truths to say themselves so I think it’s in-bred within the group to say we’ve won but that’s not acceptable.

“It’s a results-orientated game but that doesn’t always means when you’ve won you’ve played amazing and when you’ve lost you’ve been rubbish.”

Rarmani Edmonds-Green and Mickel Miller will miss tonight’s game with hamstring injuries but are expected to be training with the group later this week.

Last six games: Shrewsbury Town WLLDDD; Rotherham United WWDWWW

Referee: C Brook (Sussex)

Last time: Shrewsbury Town 1 Rotherham United 2, December 26, 2019, League One