Paul Warne speaks following the Millers' win over Southend...
After Paul Warne watched his side destroy Southend United 5-0, the Millers boss caught up with the assembled media.
“It was an unstoppable first half but the pessimist in me kept thinking ‘we need another goal’,” said Warne. “I was worried if they got one before half time that a 3-1 would be a disgusting scoreline. To get the fourth before half time was good.
“We were trying to get our lads to run off the pitch and they didn’t! A few of them were smiling at half time so we had to keep them on the floor a little bit because they hadn’t won anything yet. It was nice to keep a clean sheet as well.
“There were some really good performances. You don’t get a chance to credit all your staff but I felt the lads looked fit, strong and aggressive. I’m not saying it’s gong to win loads of football games but, hopefully, it will win a few. They’ve been coached how we want them to play and today – like last week – they took what we had to say as the letter of the law.”
A man-of-the-match display from Kieffer Moore inspired the Millers to victory, with the big striker bagging a first-half hat-trick.
“He’s done really well,” said Warne of Moore. “I thought Proctor was really good as well. It’s always the same as the strikers get all the plaudits, so they should I suppose because that’s what people come to see. I’m really pleased for him to get a hat-trick because some people might have raised their eyebrows when we brought him here. I think he’s done really well, he’s bought into what we’re trying to do. He’s got himself in really good physical shape, and he believes in himself I wouldn’t want to play against him.
“Procs is exactly the same and I think the two of them can cause massive problems. I’m disappointed he didn’t get a goal because his play definitely deserved that. Overall there were some good performances throughout the team but there are a few things we weren’t happy with. Obviously we’re pleased to win 5-0 but there are still things we can improve on.
“It’s good for Rich (O’Donnell) and I’m pleased for him. It’ll do him no end of good (to get the clean sheet). It allowed me to make subs early on. I could take Frecks off after 60 minutes.”
The Millers absolutely ran riot against a season Shrimpers side, with Ryan Williams capping off the afternoon’s scoring but Joe Newell also got in on the act to finish off a fantastic team move.
“I joked after saying we’d get abused for not scoring enough in the second half,” smiled Warne. “It was an exciting game, we had a lot of fans turn up and it was a lovely sunny day. It’s just one game but at least it cements the way we want to play. We’ve had back-to-back wins at home.
“The games come thick and fast. We’ll enjoy this one for six hours then go again. Luckily we came away without any injury worries and we have a full squad to pick for Tuesday night.”