Rotherham United boss Paul Warne has called on his side to arrive at Ewood Park for Tuesday night’s Sky Bet League One showdown with a swing in their step as they prepare to face the former Premier League champions.
The Millers manager says he is keen to ensure his side adopt a fearless approach as they lock horns with one of the division’s pre-season promotion favourites and whilst he concedes the battle in Lancashire will be tough in midweek, it is important his players treat the match like any other game.
“I'd like to think that at least the opposition know that when they're playing us they're a lot more fearful and we get a lot more respect,” Warne told www.themillers.co.uk.
“I think when we turn up to places now, myself included, we walk in with a bit more pride and a bit more optimism possibly, so the lads might have a bit more swagger."
“They're playing a team who came out of the Championship like us, who have recruited pretty well and have got good resources, but they're a team nonetheless in League One with us, so we don't have to go there with loads of fear.”
The Millers have reason to be in buoyant mood following their weekend dismantling of Oldham Athletic, which saw them hit five at home for the third time this season, but Warne admits he would sacrifice the emphatic scoreline for his players to replicate the resilient performance that saw them break their away day hoodoo at Portsmouth.
“It's weird, you win 5-1 but you still see things that you'd like to improve on,” he continued.
“It is nice to score five goals but it did flatter us a little bit. We're still exciting to watch and I've said before that I'd buy a season ticket to watch us at the moment.
“It was probably a complete performance at Portsmouth in that we didn't concede and we nicked a goal and played pretty well and were pretty comfortable.
“I thought in fairness we weren't bad at Bradford either, so it's not like we're not good away from home, we just haven't had the results to match the performances.
“I'm hopeful that we'll play the same way and we'll be high energy and try and win the game.”