Reserves cruise to victory at home...
Assistant Manager Paul Raynor was delighted after watching the Millers second string come out victorious over an equally strong Scunthorpe United outfit.
With the hosts brandishing a frontline of new signings Paddy Madden and Gary McSheffrey alongside former Miller Deon Burton, the Millers were always going to be in for a tough afternoon, but an assured defensive display allowed them to take the game to their opponents early on.
“For a reserve fixture that was two very strong teams out there today, and it shows the depth in the Scunthorpe United squad. They’ve added some good quality players and a lot of them were on show today, but the way we dealt with it was excellent,” Paul Raynor told www.themillers.co.uk.
With a solid defensive base, Rotherham named an exciting attack that saw Wes Thomas and Haris Vuckcic flanked by new signing Blair Turgott and the returning Danny Hylton. It was Thomas who was involved from the off who finally opened the scoring after cutting in from the left and firing beyond James Severn, and midfielder Michael O’Connor who got the decisive second deep into the second-half.
“We were strong as well. and in the first-half we were totally dominant and we only conceded a dubious looking goal (Andy Dawson’s deflected free-kick). We should really have been streets ahead after creating numerous chances and numerous openings in the first 30 minutes, and really should have punished them more. I was delighted with the senior players, and delighted with the win in the end when some of the younger lads had gone on with the changes. It was an all-round good run-out and good exercise.”
Raynor also explained how the game can benefit new signings as it gives them the opportunity to adapt to the Millers’ style of play.
“Monday is a great day for reserve football as it gives you plenty of time to recover from any knocks or any problems so it was an ideal opportunity for them to get some minutes for us. We do have a different style of playing to a lot of teams, we play at a high tempo and ask players to do different things to what they’re often used to and it helps them in their education of how we want them to play. We felt Scunthorpe might be strong as they have a lot of numbers in their squad, and we’re always pleased to win football matches.”