Alan Stubbs post Wolves...
Rotherham United manager Alan Stubbs says there were plenty of positives to take from the 2016/17 opener on Saturday which saw his side earn a point from a 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.The Millers’ form early on in the game emulated the red hot temperatures in South Yorkshire and they took the incentive when Danny Ward headed them into the lead after just 10 minutes.
Debutant Will Vaulks then introduced himself to the home fans in style with a thunderbolt from 25 yards to put daylight between the two sides.
However, a late resurgence from the visitors, who lost Dominic Iorfa following a red card, saw them snatch a share of the spoils with a Jon Dadi Bodvarsson goal late on after George Saville had halved the deficit prior to the interval.
Millers boss Alan Stubbs believes his team showed glimpses of what they were capable of in the game against Wolves and admitted he felt they were good value for the win at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
“Overall I think there were a lot of positives to take away from it, but with the effort that the players put in we should be here talking about three points rather than a point,” he explained in the wake of the game.
"I thought that we showed some good moments in the game, I thought that we looked a real threat especially in the first 25-30 minutes - I thought that we dominated the game.
“Then I thought, more often than not, that we caused ourselves one or two problems by not doing the things that we did so well in the first 30 minutes.
"We gave them a soft goal to let them back in the game. It was a lapse in concentration, we should have done better. In the build up to the second goal I thought there was a foul on Joe (Mattock), but even after that I still think that we should have defended the goal much better than what we did.”
Stubbs continued to add that he thought the sending off of Iorfa late in the second half spurred Walter Zenga’s side on and believes his team showed signs of being a work in progress.
“We are still building, we are looking to have a better start than we did last season, so it is a point towards a tally that we need at the end of the season.
"Sometimes when the opposition go down to 10 men they can throw caution to the wind a little bit more.
“I didn't think we picked up enough second balls as a result of that, and just in terms of the second half I didn't think that we managed the ball as well as we could have done. It is the first game of the season, I am pleased with certain aspects of the game, but it was always going to be work in progress.”
Stubbs handed full debuts to no fewer than four players on Saturday but was particularly impressed with the contribution of Vaulks who finished the game with a spectacular goal to his name.
"I thought he showed real promise in the game, and he offers us a significant threat going forward with his pace,” he added.
“He can be pleased but you can see how much the players are disappointed in the dressing room after the game, but disappointed that we didn't get the three points, not disappointed with the performance.
"Will can certainly strike a ball, he pops up with a goal every now and then. We have been encouraging him to shoot more, there were some real positive signs in Will's performance as well. He can be happy with his performance today."