Warne: We can still beat drop
PAUL Warne says his Rotherham players were buoyed by results elsewhere that keeps his team’s slim survival chances alive.
The Millers played out a tense goalless affair with Huddersfield that did little to help either side in their battle to avoid the drop.
Rotherham had the better chances to seal a much-needed win. Lewis Wing came close on a couple of occasions, before Ben Wiles somehow tapped wide with the goal gaping in the latter stages.
The result means Rotherham are still six points off safety, but with the added bonus of having three, and in some cases four, games in hand on their drop rivals.
Other teams such as Wycombe, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry and Derby all lost – something Warne says was a boost to his side ahead of three games inside the next week. “I thought our performance was really good today,”
Warne said. “It was better than the 0-0 scoreline suggested, but unfortunately we just didn’t take it to that next step.
“When they were in the dressing room the lads felt like it was a defeat, but when they saw the other results, they were really pleased.”
The first major flashpoint came when Wing tried his luck from distance in the 17th minute. The midfielder cut inside and bent an effort towards goal that warmed the palms of Ryan Schofield.
The visitors should have taken the lead shortly after. Wing’s glorious pass teed up Wiles and he scampered down the left before pulling it back for Matt Crooks. However, from only a few yards out,
Crooks’ side-footed attempt came back off a post much to the hosts’ relief.
Richard Keogh lashed a shot towards goal that drew a smart save from Viktor Johansson in the United goal.
The visitors thought they had made a dream start to the second half when Crooks’ overhead kick appeared to cross the line but the linesman’s flag was quickly raised for offside.
Wing almost produced something special for Rotherham on the hour mark.
The midfielder attempted a clever effort when his longrange free-kick completely caught Schofield out, only for it to cannon back off the crossbar. The visitors were appealing for a penalty when
Richard Wood went down under pressure from Naby Sarr in the box, but referee Lee Mason was having none of it.
The impressive Wing then drew the best save of the day from Schofield before a glorious chance arrived late on.
Wiles was presented with the chance to pinch the points in the 88th minute but somehow sidefooted wide.
Terriers boss Carlos Corberan was far from content with the point.
He said: “It wasn’t the result we wanted before the game. The point was positive in that we didn’t compete well enough in the second half to get even that point. We were very concentrated on competing, but didn’t create anything in attack.”