Warne’s After Match Thoughts

Despite losing the game two-one to Cardiff this evening, Rotherham United Manager Paul Warne told Radio Sheffield that he was ‘really proud’ of his team.

‘I thought we were definitely the better team in the first half,’ the Millers Boss said, ‘but they (Cardiff) caused us more problems in the second half.

That was my opinion as well. But, again, we had the chances to score in the first forty-five minutes and didn’t take them – if we’d have taken one or two of those, well it might have been a different game.

Saying he thought his ‘keeper only had a couple of saves to make in the first half, the Gaffer went on to say, ‘to be fair to Viktor (Johansson) I thought he pulled off a brilliant save with his left hand that kept us in it at one-nil. I was disappointed with their second goal because, up to then, I could just see a Rotherham win, though, obviously I am biased. But, it was probably the best goal of the game.

‘I thought we’d win tonight and then be just two points behind Cardiff with a game in hand but we have to pick them up again because we’ve got another game on Saturday which will be another test and it should be another exciting game.’

Talking about the penalty decisions that didn’t go their way tonight, Warne said, ‘I thought we could have had two in the first half and I don’t know why they weren’t given. I’ve left my coach to speak to the ref.’

I don’t know how that push on Michael Smith in the first half wasn’t given – everybody who was watching – and I include the people in the ground – must have seen that push and must have seen it was inside the box. The one on Richard Wood, also in the first half, well, I can understand that the referee and the linesman couldn’t see that, if I think really hard I can anyway. Even the handball from Will Vaulks in the second half I know the ref pointed to his chest – although at the time I thought he was actually saying ‘I’m the ref, I’ll make the decision’ when our players complained to him – but I’d like to see that back from behind the goal – in fact, I’d go as far as to say if our fans had been in the stands and had shouted and carried on that one might have even been given.

Bad news came tonight about Jamie Lindsay who limped off on Saturday with a hamstring injury. At first it was thought he might be missing for around three weeks but it seems it’s worse than that and is a hamstring tear which will keep him out six to eight weeks.