Taylor ‘Players Were Excellent Tonight’

Rotherham United’s Manager Matt Taylor thought his side deserved more than a point from their game away at Coventry this evening.

And, to be honest, I think he might be right. We mostly defended well, took our goals well, especially Cohen Bramall’s. It was a silly penalty to give away as looking at it again I wonder if we’d let the player shoot it might not have gone in? Or even if it was a penalty at all? On the other hand we did ride our luck a couple of times. I know some thought our second goal was offside, me too on first showing, but after a couple of times looking I’m not sure it was.

Speaking to Radio Sheffield after the two-all draw the Millers Boss said, ‘Our players were excellent tonight. I thought at times we moved the ball really well and created some really good opportunities against a good team at home. I was pleased with our performance tonight but we didn’t get the ball in the right place for that all important finish and it was great legs from Cohen (Bramall) for the first goal. Then another outstanding pass from Dan (Barlaser) to Conor (Washington) who finished it well and he was outstanding tonight as they all were. We just needed to find a way to hold on for a little bit longer.’

Matt wasn’t impressed with the referee tonight and carried on, ‘There first goal came from a give away and I don’t think the second goal was a penalty because Woody (Richard Wood) hasn’t changed his movement in terms of his stride pattern, the ball was going away from goal and the lad has tangled his legs into Woody’s legs. As a defender you can only stay in your line. It wasn’t the centre-forwards line it was the defenders line and he’s bought the pen and the referee has been weak enough to make that decision. And then at the end of the game the lad has clearly run into our centre-half and he’s been given a free-kick.

‘It sounds like I’m making excuses and moaning but we have to fight for our players, they couldn’t give any more, they were outstanding tonight. It was just some poor officiating and what makes it worse was he was laughing at me coming off the pitch.

‘The referees have got to know the rules of the game. Our centre-forward gets penalised time and time again in honest challenges. And the same happened at Stoke, I’ve got the same complaint, it’s not just tonight. I thought the referee was poor tonight and our players deserve more. We will do our assessment but, let’s be honest, nothing ever gets done about it.’

Talking about the substitutions today, Matt said, ‘I’ve told them I don’t want to keep tinkering with the team. I want players on the pitch as close to ninety minutes as possible. We had to make two changes quite early tonight. We thought Hacks’ (Odoffin) legs had gone a little and he’d got booked and Cohen (Bramall) cramped up. I can’t fault their effort but we have to have ninety minute fit players because then I was forced to changing three players at once because we’d used our three allotments.

Both Ollie Rathbone, who might have made the bench tonight, and Shane Ferguson, who will have a scan on a groin complaint tomorrow, were missing due to injuries. Good news about Chieo Ogbene who the Boss said could be ready if not Saturday, which he thinks will be too soon, for next weeks mid-week game at Burnley. (But it is only a ‘could’).