Not many Rotherham United supporters will be aware of the help manager Alan Knill gets from the Scouting Network Association in his preparation for games.

Explaining how they became involved with the Millers, Derek Bragg said: "We became involved with Rotherham United after Mick Harford lost his job. I knew Alan and we asked if there was anything we could do to help.

"We began by doing team assessments and that went well so we started to do more and more of them. After the financial situation at the club we didn't hear from Alan for a couple of weeks so we gave him a call.

"He said he couldn't afford the scouting so in our support for the club we agreed to do the games until the end of the season to see how things worked out.

"That has developed into a good relationship and now we are being involved in helping out with the recruitment of players who are available within the budget of the club while giving Alan support.

"He is very busy and has a lot of work to do at the club so we are trying to take some of the strain off him."

Millers chief operating officer, Paul Douglas commented: "A lot of clubs have a scouting system that is very expensive and for a club of our size that is beyond our means.

"So being able to work with Scouting Network has been a big plus for us particularly when they worked free for a large part of last season knowing the situation the club was in. The help we have received from them has been invaluable because another member, Tim Henderson has burned a lot of midnight oil around the country with Alan assessing players.

"Once players have come here Tim has helped in speaking to agents and other clubs to help to sort out the contracts, that's been a big help to me and I can't thank them enough."

Looking to the future Derek added: "Now is a time when players are looking at their options and it's all about being patient and making sure the club gets the right players.

"Alan has to be ready to go on 5^th August and we will give him all the support we can."

Paul concluded: "We can be grateful to the Scouting Network and hope they continue to point us in the right direction.

"For the full interview log on now to Millers World.

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