Shrewsbury v Rotherham United: Mattock aiming high again as Millers target complete revival

Inside just a couple of days during the final week before the 2008-09 campaign got under way, both clubs had been hit with a swingeing 17-points deduction for failing to follow the Football League’s rules on exiting administration.

Neither were bottom of the League Two table thanks to Luton Town having been hit with an even bigger penalty of 30 points earlier in the summer.

But either the Don Valley Stadium or Dean Court did seem the most likely to be joining Kenilworth Road in hosting Conference football the following season.

The reality, however, saw both the Millers and Cherries survive against all the odds as Chester, instead, joined Luton in being relegated.

Since then, Rotherham and Bournemouth have been on vastly differing paths but Joe Mattock believes the south coast club, fresh from having just completed a third season in the Premier League, offer inspiration for Paul Warne’s men going into tomorrow’s League One play-off final.

“The Premier League is realistic,” said the 28-year-old defender when asked about chairman Tony Stewart’s long-held dream of taking the South Yorkshire club into the top flight. “There has been a couple of clubs that have gone from League One to Championship and then Premier League.

“Southampton did it and so did Bournemouth, who are definitely a model for a club like ours. Bournemouth have shown that a similar team to Rotherham can do it. I am not saying we will bounce straight through but if you have a manager with as much drive as ours then it can only help.

“As long as you invest well and bring the right people in, then it is not that far away. You should always have goals that you want to achieve.”

For now, negotiating a safe passage back to the Championship is the sole focus at the New York Stadium.

Just being in a position to do so after a traumatic 2016-17 is to the credit of not only Warne but also his players.

Rotherham won just five times last term and were relegated with seven games remaining. Often, such a wretched performance can inflict lasting damage and the fear last summer was that the Millers would take two to three years to get over such a chastening experience.

Instead, a positive start that included three five-goal victories inside the opening seven weeks swept away all the doom and gloom at a stroke.

There may have been a wobble as autumn gave way to winter amid a seven-game winless run but Warne’s men responded in fine style by storming back up the table and into the play-off places early in the new year.

“A lot of fans and people outside the club thought we might struggle after what happened last year,” said Mattock, in his third year at the New York. “The spirit was down, especially at the end of last season.

“But, sometimes, you have to walk through that line. What is in the past is in the past and you get through that. We came back in good spirits, with a new manager who had new ideas and it has worked for us.”

As Mattock was speaking to The Yorkshire Post yesterday, he was surrounded by images from the Millers’ past that adorn the walls of the club’s media room.

Alan Lee, scoring the dramatic late goal that clinched promotion in 2001, could be seen over his right shoulder, while another giant photo of Lee Frecklington being engulfed by celebrating supporters was to Mattock’s left.

That latter image comes from the New York’s first promotion party five years ago, a success that was followed 12 months later by victory in the League One play-off final.

All but Warne, then the club’s fitness coach, from that Wembley triumph have since moved on, meaning there is potential for new heroes to be cast.

As Mattock looks across at Frecklington’s joyous reaction to netting against Aldershot in 2013, he admits with a smile: “I could end up a hero. That is the whole point. If that doesn’t give you a boost on Saturday night when you go to bed and then again on Sunday morning when you wake up, I don’t know what will.

“That is the whole point of being a professional footballer, that is what I dreamt about when I was a kid. The thought of playing at Wembley is a dream come true for me and to get my picture on the wall would be an even bigger dream come true.”

Mattock has two promotions on his CV, after helping Leicester City to the League One title in 2009 and then West Bromwich Albion into the Premier League 12 months later. Triumphing tomorrow under the Arch, however, would be very, very special.

“I have gone up twice but never had a chance to go to Wembley,” he added. “I have been to watch (England) but I have never played there so this is a massive occasion for me. This will be the biggest game of my career.”

As for a final that pits two teams against each other who have one away win apiece to their name from the two meetings in the regular season, Mattock said: “I am not sure who the favourite is. We know it is going to be an eventful game.

“Shrewsbury are a disciplined side, whereas we are an attacking team. Ultimately, though, we have to try and keep a clean sheet.”

Paul Hurst’s side, like Barnsley a couple of years ago, do have recent experience of what playing at Wembley entails after reaching this year’s Checkatrade Trophy final. The flipside of that April visit, however, is that Shrewsbury ended up losing to Lincoln City, one of four defeats in as many visits to the national stadium for the Shropshire club.

“Maybe having played there recently is an advantage but we can’t think too much about that,” added Mattock. “We have just kept things as normal as possible this week and there is no doubt we can win if we go about this in the right way.”