Kari Arnason talks to www.themillers.co.uk...
ICELANDIC international Kari Arnason was quick to hail the impact of Jonson Clarke-Harris as his superb strike just minutes after coming off the bench helped put Yorkshire rivals Leeds United to the sword on Friday night.In a buzzing New York Stadium, the Millers were behind at the interval after Mirco Antenucci's opener put the West Yorkshiremen in charge.
However, with the words of Millers' chief Steve Evans fresh in their minds, Rotherham were a transformed outfit in the second half and after Alex Revell had levelled matters, it was left to Clarke-Harris to steal the show with his first goal for the club which sealed the deal for the Millers to earn White Rose bragging rights.
Speaking exclusively to www.themillers.co.uk afterwards, Arnason is tipping the ex-Oldham forward to make himself a fans' favourite after his memorable debut strike.
"He's a very powerful lad and you don't want to play against him when he is on his game," Arnason warned.
"He just needs a few games under his belt to get going and he will be a right handful for us."
The Millers recovered after half-time in front of the Sky TV audience with Arnason insisting the game against their heavyweight opponents was always there for the taking.
"We all knew it wasn't good enough in the first half," he conceded.
"We didn't get close to them and they were dangerous on counter attack but I had a feeling we would get back into it as the game never got away from us."
The break maybe came at the right time for the Millers as Evans' men came out firing in the second half to shellshock the visitors as they attacked the Kop End.
The visitors had no answer to the barrage as Revell hoicked home after Lee Frecklington's shot was saved by Marco Silvestri before Clarke-Harris came to the fore.
Despite 'keeper Adam Collin being forced to turn Antenucci's drilled shot onto the upright, the Millers were rarely troubled in the latter stages as Revell missed two late chances to put the icing on the cake on just Rotherham's second league victory over their illustrious opponents since 1962.
With Arnason forming a defensive shield with club-skipper Craig Morgan during an enthralling second period, the 32-year-old defender insisted his side were full value for their victory.
"In the first-half, it wasn't a good performance by the team but we turned it around and restricted Leeds to shots from outside the box," he added.
"We have shown time and time again that we can come from behind, most memorably at Wembley, so it was no surprise to me we came back into the game.
"Every game is a tough game in the Championship, but we now have a chance to push ourselves up the table."