The smile that wasn't a smile, the Man-of-the-Match poll and playing like a team going down ... the story of Millwall 3 Rotherham United 0, plus manager's reaction, full ratings and match stats

As Lions goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski took the goal-kick, the injury-stricken Millers' chances of reversing their Championship slide had just gone from slim to zero.

Conor Washington in action

So, the cold stats on a Cold Blow day ... Rotherham have won once in their last 12 games and they've conceded 13 goals in five matches since the international break that have yielded a single draw and four defeats to leave them on the brink of the bottom three.

Matt Taylor has been in charge since October. For more than a month, things looked good. Then came the World Cup shutdown from which his side emerged looking nothing like the one that went into it.

After a heavy defeat that could have been heavier, the manager told it how he sees it: some of the men he has inherited aren't good enough to keep his new club in the second tier.

"That group of players are trying their hardest," he said. "They just can't quite get to the level that is required in the league we're in.

"Trust me, they are fighting. They're not good enough to do certain actions. There's no lack of effort, there is a lack of quality."

Injuries aren't helping the situation and the Millers, without six first-team regulars in South East London, never had the ammunition to hurt opponents who are contending for the play-offs.

A solitary point earned since December 10 ... the manager didn't hide away from the truth:

"It's relegation form."

THE MATCH

The club's own Man-of-the-Match poll damned the limp showing.

Usually there are four candidates to choose from in the vote on Rotherham's official Twitter feed. This time there were just two.

The only real contender - with respect to the other name on there, Ollie Rathbone - was keeper Viktor Johansson who kept down the scoreline with a series of saves throughout the contest that ranged from sharp to superb.

The Millers needed to hold out for as long as they could and gain a foothold in the game yet were behind after only three minutes and 18 seconds as Callum Styles swung over a free-kick from the left and one of the smallest men on the pitch, Tom Bradshaw, tucked away a header.

Too soon, too easy.

Johansson had denied Zion Flemming, Styles, George Honeyman and Andreas Voglsammer and watched Bradshaw fire over in one-way first half before Washington's 44th-minute rush of blood.

Latching on to Dan Barlaser's pass, the frontman did the hard part by rounding Bialkowski only to lose his head and sense of direction at the same time.

"We didn't start the game well enough," Taylor said. "Millwall got there first on too many occasions. We were beaten up. We've come up against a good team.

Rotherham came up against good teams and held or beat some of them earlier in the boss's tenure. "What's changed?" he was asked. "The personnel has changed," he replied.

"If we are to have any chance at this level we have to have our best players out on the pitch and fully fit. There's no denying that fact.

"If we're weaker by one or two, it affects us. If we're weaker by six or seven, it affects us even more.

Hakeem Odoffin gets in a header

"That's no disrespect to the 'exterior' of the squad. They're giving absolutely everything but just not executing what is needed to keep us in the game. We were short today."

Soon after the break, Hakeem Odoffin, whose first-half header comfortably dealt with by Bialkowski was Rotherham's only effort on target, tried a shot that went out for an throw-in and then things went even more awry than the midfielder's attempt.

Johansson kept on saving, from Bradshaw, from Danny McNamara, from Bradshaw again, but a wicked Cameron Humphreys deflection on a Bradshaw 20-yarder was too much even for him to keep at bay.

Later, there was nothing he could do as he lay sprawled on the turf after denying Voglsammer to prevent Bradshaw tapping in the rebound.

"We know we look like we don't have a goal in us," Taylor said. "We know we don't look like we're going to keep a clean sheet. We know exactly where we are.

"We're feeling pretty sorry for ourselves at the moment and goals conceded always make you feel even worse. There has been a weakness and naivety in our defensive play since we came back from the break."

THE VIKING

Twenty-seven goal attempts, 11 on target for the home side: Rotherham's Swedish stopper was the busiest man in Bermondsey.

"Viktor's our top performer this season," Taylor said. "I can't fault him in any way. He's showing himself to be good enough. We need more of the same from everyone else."

The boss walked on to the pitch at the final whistle, shaking hands with the officials but not his players.

Some of them - Johansson the main one - went to applaud the cluster of fans who'd given up their New Year's Day to make the long trip to the capital.

Unlike the Washington moment, there were no grins, rueful or otherwise. Faces were straight, strained, creased with concern. On the pitch and in the stand.

"I'm not denying confidence is waning," Taylor said. "That's obvious. The game doesn't lie and, unfortunately, we are short at the moment. 

Right now ... nothing to smile about.

******************************

Goals: Bradshaw 4, 81, Humphreys og 66

Attendance: 12,899

The Millers

Formation: 3-5-1-1

Viktor Johansson: 9

Player of the Year by a mile. Exceptional shot-stopping. Again.

Wes Harding: 5

Part of a defence that was beaten down the flanks or pierced centrally too many times.

Richard Wood: 5

Ditto Harding.

Cameron Humphreys: 5

Ditto Wood.

Peter Kioso: 5

One or two encouraging moments from a wing-back who offers something going forward and in defence. He can really head a ball. Will get better the more he plays after an injury-hit first five months with the Millers.

Jamie Lindsay: 5

Struggled to make an impact against a slick, quick-passing Millwall midfield.

Dan Barlaser: 5

Vintage Dan as he played in Conor Washington, not enough vintage Dan anywhere else.

Hakeem Odoffin: 5

A physical presence but saw too little of the ball.

Shane Ferguson: 5

Tried hard against the club for whom he had six successful seasons. However, other than laying on the cross for Odoffin's header, he had no chance to get anything going in attack.

Ollie Rathbone: 7

For the second game in a row, the only outfield player who could be satisfied with his display.

Conor Washington: 5

Virtually no service. Looked a lonely man up there on his own.

The subs

Brooke Norton-Cuffy (for Kioso 67): 5

Rotherham were already beaten by the time he came on and he had no opportunity to show his attacking talent.

Cohen Bramall (for Ferguson 67): 5

Just good to see him available after it had looked like he would be yet another injury absentee following the Huddersfield game.

Not used: Robbie Hemfrey, Jamie McCart, Hamish Douglas, Jake Hull, Tolaji Bola.

Millwall (4-3-2-1): Bartosz Bialkowski 6; Danny McNamara 7, Shaun Hutchinson 7, Jake Cooper 7, Murray Wallace 7; George Honeyman 8 (Romain Esse 82), Billy Mitchell 8, Callum Styles 7 (George Saville 72); Zian Flemming 6 (Jamie Shackleton 88), Andreas Voglsammer 8 (Tyler Burey 82); Tom Bradshaw 8 (Benik Ofobe 82). Subs not used: Connal Trueman, Charlie Cresswell.

Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey): 9

Not always a Millers favoutite (think Johansson and Carlton Morris at Oakwell) but excellent here.

Opposition view

"We switched play really well. We made some brilliant runs off the ball and it was a really proactive performance.

"I can't think of the amount of times that George Honeyman got in behind with a great run or Vogey (Voglsammer) and Bradders (Bradshaw) did.

"We worked incredibly hard to open up space and that made a big difference.

"It's been a tough one for Rotherham. I've followed their last few games and they've had some key injuries that have made it very difficult for them to remain as competitive as they'd like to.

"They worked incredibly hard - there were a few moments where there were little warning signs.

We played so well in the first half that we should have had quite a few more goals than one."

- Lions boss Gary Rowett

The stats

Possession: Millwall 62 per cent, Millers 38

Goal attempts: Millwall 27, Millers 5

On target: Millwall 11, Millers 1

Corners: Millwall 10, Millers 1

Fouls: Millwall 9, Millers 12

Final word

Has to get better or Rotherham are heading for the drop.