The best and worst of League One times for Rotherham United and former Portsmouth defender

To say it hasn’t mapped out that way is a considerable understatement.

Should the out-of-form Millers not arrest matters with a few relieving wins soon, then the run-in has the potential to be tense and descend into a relegation battle, something the Liverpudlian had his fill of at another former side in Rochdale.

Having been part of the Pompey side who went up to the Championship in 2023-24 and a Dale squad elevated to the third tier amid happier times earlier in his career, he knows what he prefers.

Rafferty said: "I’ve had the best and worst of it. I have been at Rochdale where we have been fighting relegation and they were tough seasons to be fair. But we never got relegated and that was an achievement.

"I had it quite good at Portsmouth and didn’t get beaten many times there.

“There was a time in my first year where the Cowleys got sacked. I sound like I am blowing my own trumpet here, but I played the first ten under them and I think we won eight and drew two and then I got injured and I spent four months out and that’s when it went a bit pear-shaped. I kind of came back when (John) Mousinho took over and we barely got beaten.

"The fans want to see something, even if it is going into next season from us where they can get a little bit excited, which they have in glimpses.

"We know there’s good players in there, we just haven’t done it consistently enough."