‘We ran out of legs’ admits Millers boss Richardson
ROTHERHAM United ‘ran out of legs’ in defeat at QPR and their stay in the Championship looks like going the same way.
Ilias Chair teed up the winning goal for Chris Willock, whose 75thminute strike secured three priceless points. Tom Eaves’ early goal gave the division’s bottom side hope of a first away win since November 2022. But the hosts turned it around in the second half, with Paul Smyth equalising before Willock fired home.
Rotherham boss Leam Richardson felt tiredness was a factor in his side’s failure to hold on to their lead.
The Millers, beaten 4-3 at Ipswich in midweek, have now lost six matches in a row and are without a win in 10. They are 16 points adrift of safety.
Richardson, who took over in December,
said: “We’ve got an awful habit of taking games to people, going in front and then losing by one goal after not seeing a performance through. We’ve got a small squad and it looked like we ran out of legs a little bit, with travelling to Ipswich on Tuesday night and travelling back down here yesterday.
“Sometimes the Championship can catch up with you if you’re not bang at it and your fitness levels are not really high.
“Our lads put a lot in on Tuesday night and it’s very similar over the games I’ve been here – the performance levels are there to compete, we just need to turn that dial a bit to turn the draws into wins and losses into draws.
“I came into a situation which I knew and I’ve been trying to instil good habits. It’s important that we work hard and that we address certain things and move forward to be better as a football club.”
Rangers are out of the bottom three on goal difference.
QPR boss Marti Cifenutes said: “I’m very happy for the guys and for the fans. Finally, after a lot of weeks in the bottom three, it’s something that’s a milestone mentally. At the same time, we need to keep very humble. We know that we have a very tough schedule in front of us, so we need to keep on pushing. But that shows the progress of the team.” QPR: Begovic, Dunne, Cook, Clarke-Salter, Paal (Larkeche 84), Hayden (Field 46), Colback, Willock, Joseph Hodge (Smyth 46), Chair (Andersen 90), Frey (Dykes 84). Unused substitutes: Archer, Fox, Cannon, Armstrong.
Rotherham: Johansson, Odofin, Morrison, Humphreys (Appiah 85), Tiehi, Seriki (Cafu 56), Rinomhota (Lindsay 85), Clucas, Kioso, Eaves (Wyke 78), Nombe (Hugill 78). Unused substitutes: Ferguson, Peltier, Phillips. Referee: M Donohue (Lancashire).