Steve Evans talks to www.themillers.co.uk
We caught up with Steve Evans before training this morning and as part of our weekly 'Gaffer on a Sunday' feature we put a number of pertinent questions to him.
Q – You’ve had time to reflect and watch a DVD of Friday's 1 - 0 victory over AFC Wimbledon, what are your thoughts?
Our team performance was excellent and again it is perhaps a mystery why we had to wait for a late goal for the teams to be separated. We dominated the match completely and it really should have been over as a contest by half-time.
We played with a lot of creativity, we looked very strong defensively and it is a good time of the season to start putting in performances like that. The quality of our passing and movement was a joy to watch and at various times during the match you could hear how much our supporters enjoyed watching the lads play such good football.
Q - Every point is valuable at this time of the season and the results in League Two again demonstrated this didn’t they?
If you consider that Burton Albion lost to Chesterfield, Exeter lost to Plymouth, Cheltenham lost and fighting for a playoff place Bradford City and Southend shared the points it really does show everyone the strength of this division. No result is a given and it is still very clear that any team in League Two, top or bottom can beat each other.
I travelled up to watch Fleetwood versus Gillingham and I have to say it was a good game to watch. The teams shared the points but I must admit I was especially impressed with Gillingham; they looked like a team deservedly on top of the league. Martin Allen watched his team dominate for long spells and by half-time it should have been contest over but football is a strange game.
Gillingham will have travelled home failing to understand why they have not taken all the three points on offer and they really did put in a real shift, they will be a little tired and stiff this morning but they have a sizeable squad of very talented players.
There is a lot of football to be played in all of the leagues except the Premier League; Sir Alex has Manchester United fully tuned, focused and ready to be Champions of English football once again.
Q - You gave a Millers debut to Joe Skarz who joined us from Bury on Thursday, how do you think he performed?
I thought the young man was excellent from start to finish. I decided to play him in preference to Liam Ridehalgh because of the height in the Wimbledon team, especially from set plays it was bound to be a concern. We have two excellent players now for that area of the team and as Huddersfield Town supporters will know, Liam can also play further forward so that is a great option to have at this stage of the season.
Q - Have we any injury worries ahead of our match with Gillingham tomorrow?
We have a couple of players who are carrying little knocks from Good Friday but we will have a look at those lads in the morning before we make any firm decisions.
Subject to everyone being available for selection I know now what my team will be for the match at Priestfield. It is a match we all look forward to, the Gills fans are brilliant, very passionate and create a great atmosphere and we will of course have the Millers fans helping to drive us on.
Q - We have seven matches left of the season, what are your thoughts at this key stage?
As I have said many times now we will focus on one match at a time, my only thought is Gillingham. I really do believe it is going to go to the wire, exciting for all the supporters around the country and it really is great to be involved in another promotion campaign; the Millers supporters deserve that after the fantastic support they have given us all season.
Q - Finally, do you want to pass a message to all Millers supporters?
Yes, far and wide, may I on behalf of everyone at Rotherham United wish all Millers a very safe, healthy and happy Easter.
As I said our supporters are fantastic, they really do make such a difference and everyone inside your football club recognises we are all one big family and as the saying goes, blood is thicker than water, Happy Easter.