Tom Eaves’ Rotherham United mission for next season

The striker has endured a tough time with the Millers since joining them in the summer of 2022 but reckons new boss Steve Evans is the man to get the best out of him.

After an injury-hit, goalless first campaign, Eaves struggled for starts last term even though he showed glimpses of his quality and was the club's leading marksman in their losing battle against Championship relegation.

Now, buoyed by Evans' April arrival, the 32-year-old can't wait to return for pre-season training later this week and stake his claim for a regular first-team jersey.

“I feel I can kick on and let people see what I'm all about,” he said. “They don't really know because they haven't seen me play regularly. They've seen me in dribs and drabs.”

Evans famously guided Rotherham from League Two to the second tier in his first spell in charge a decade ago and Eaves is tipping him to lead another promotion charge.

“He's done it before, hasn't he,” the Liverpudlian said. “He's come in and seen a few things that aren't to his liking. It's good for the club. We need to keep all the standards high. I've got no doubt he's going to do that next year.”

Injuries have wrecked Eaves' summer preparations in both years since he was signed by then-manager Paul Warne so the centre-forward has his fingers crossed he will stay healthy as the Millers prepare for their 2024/25 campaign.

The former Hull City man will report back in high spirits, having signed off with a two-goal blast in the last-day 5-2 Championship home win over Cardiff City in May that took his tally for that season to six.

He hardly featured under Warne because of a calf problem and was then selected only sparingly during the reigns of Matt Taylor and Leam Richardson. Just 15 of his 56 Rotherham outings have been starts.

The 6ft 5in frontman has an impressive track record in League One, having top-scored for Gillingham in successive seasons between 2017 and 2019 with 18 and 22 goals respectively.

He's confident that, if he is used correctly, he can hit similar figures again and turn around his Millers career in the final year of his contract.

“It's about knowing what type of player you are,” he said. “I live inside the box. I feed off crosses into the box, it's about my movement inside the box.

“I don't want to be coming to feet all the time. I'm very much a ‘stretch’ player, I always want to stretch the opposition's back four.

“Two managers came in and had their own style of play and brought in their own players. It was one gut punch after another.”

Eaves doesn't shy away from taking some of the blame himself for his past struggles in S60, accepting that he might have made more of an impact even though his game-time was so limited.

“I'm not here to make excuses because I look inwardly at myself first and think: ‘Could I have done better?’” he said. “I'll always do that. I'm my biggest critic. Bottom line, it's about me being better."