Manager keeps the faith

The Millers followed up a home draw against Blackpool with a creditable point from a goalless draw away to Championship play-off challengers Cardiff City on Saturday.

Evans has encouraged a less direct style of play in the last couple of matches and his quartet of loan recruits — Emmanuel Ledesma, Reece James, Scott Wootton and Tom Lawrence — have integrated well.

Without a win in eight matches, Rotherham are still desperate for points to pull away from the bottom three but the coaching team hope that the changes in personnel and tactics will stand them in good stead against another team with promotion aspirations.

Evans said: “Cardiff were in the Premier League last season and this week we're going to welcome the former European Cup winners. These are fantastic games but do you know what we're going to do? We're going to get it down and pass it and we're going to play. The Forest manager, Stuart Pearce, doesn't need to guess.

“There's a lot more to come from this young group. We're changing how we play and how we're going to do things and that's working but we need to see some three-pointers at the end of it.”

Meanwhile, the Millers will face Championship high-fliers Bournemouth twice in a fortnight in the new year having drawn them in the third round of the FA Cup.

The Cherries visit the AESSEAL New York Stadium on January 3, two weeks before their scheduled league trip.