Rotherham United welcome back former Manager Matt Taylor and his Bristol Rovers side to the New York Stadium for the Millers’ first home league game of the season.
Coming into this on the back of a home win in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night the Millers should be full of confidence – they certainly looked more lively than last weekend’s league game away at Exeter which saw them lose one-nil.
Rovers got a one-nil win at home to Northampton last Saturday but fell at the first hurdle in the cup game in mid-week away at Cardiff.
Speaking to the Official Site Millers Boss Steve Evans said he wants to see the same effort, commitment and passion from his Rotherham side as he did in Tuesday nights win over Crewe. ‘I got it wrong at Exeter,’ admitted Evans. ‘We need to have a bit more quality and be a bit more clinical in our finishing than Tuesday.
‘Bristol Rovers have signed some good players and they will have a travelling fan base that is big, strong and passionate and this will be a big indication of where we are in our first home game. We will be doing what we can to win but this is a decent Bristol Rovers side with high expectations and we need to be ready.’
The Millers have injury concerns over Joe Rafferty with a groin problem plus an ankle injury to Joseph Hungbo could keep them out of this game. While Ben Hatton and Jake Hull suffered knocks recently it could be that Zak Jules is back following a ‘niggle’ and illness. Sean Raggett will have a late fitness test. New boy Mallik Wilks could also play some part in the game but, if he does, then it will most probably be off the bench.
Matt Taylor returns to the New York Stadium and told Rovers’ Official Site that he knows what a ‘good group of players’ there are at Rotherham saying, ‘the Championship will always show certain deficiencies at a club like Rotherham but in terms of a League One club, there’s no one better. Like ourselves they’re a new group so it might take a little bit of time to get there but they’ve got an experienced manager at the helm who knows how to get through every single division.
‘We won’t be perfect this weekend and we’ll have to roll our sleeves up but we’ve got to find a way to look ourselves amongst the pressures of the game which is our biggest challenge. We are delighted to be in this league and we hope we are going to be competitive.’
It could be that defender Lino Sousa will be in the starting eleven on Saturday for the visitors having just signed on loan from Aston Villa while former Miller Jamie Lindsay should be in the travelling squad. Chris Martin and Jack Hunt won’t feature but the news is that although there are a few ‘tired bodies’ in the camp the players have come through the first week of the season unscathed
Neil Hair from Peterborough is in the middle for this game.
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