Redfearn post Sheffield Wednesday
Rotherham United boss Neil Redfearn says that building his side to compete in the Sky Bet Championship is a work in progress after they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday at AESSEAL New York Stadium.The Millers were on the wrong end of the result in the South Yorkshire derby as goals from Lucas Joao and Fernando Forestieri sealed the Owls all three points despite Tom Thorpe’s late consolation.
Redfearn was disappointed with his team’s reaction after the break following a solid first half and admits they could have dealt with the Sheffield Wednesday goals better in the defensive third.
“We talked at half time about coming out the traps which we did against Reading and we got the crowd up and got the equaliser on the front foot but tonight we did exactly the opposite,” he admitted.
“I think if you look at both goals they’re poor from our point of view. It’s poor defending from young Tom [Thorpe] who could have cleared it and a couple of things come off Lee [Camp] who’s done ever so well for us in recent times.”
The Millers boss continued to add that the process to turn his squad into an established second tier outfit was a process that would take time and says he may add to the ranks in the coming weeks.
“I knew when I came in and I said the other night that it might be two forward and one back and tonight is one back,” Redfearn explained.
“If you look at what we’ve got in the size of the squad, I was hoping Newell was going to be fit and Mattock was going to be fit and they weren’t.
“It puts pressure on our squad and these boys probably need some help. We need to look at bringing one or two in to strengthen and give these lads a lift.
“As it went on with about 15 or 20 minutes to go we came back into it again. They’ve got that determination but I think at this moment in time there’s an imbalance in what we’ve got.
“What we’ve got to do is keep making little inroads and pick points up everywhere we can. We nicked a point against a good side the other night and we got ourselves half way there tonight and we ran out of steam but we’ve just got to keep persevering."