Paul Warne talks to www.themillers.co.uk...
Rotherham United boss Paul Warne has predicted an entertaining all-action encounter with Plymouth this weekend, in what could potentially be a dress rehearsal for the upcoming Play-off campaign fixtures.
The Millers make the long journey down to Home Park on Saturday to face Derek Adams’ Pilgrims, who are still vying to secure a place in the end of season shake-up, with Warne insisting his side will be equally as keen to win the game as they look to maintain momentum as the regular season draws to a close.
“It could be any two of four really so it could be a dress rehearsal,” he told www.themillers.co.uk.
“I think we have to play these two games and enjoy them for what they are and try and take confidence from them with the form that we've been in and just go into the Play-offs with a smile on our face.
“Potentially we could play Plymouth home and away so it'll be good to get used to their pitch and the travel.
“It'll be a great game. They'll come out all guns blazing and they need a win, but sometimes it's great to play like that because you're thinking 'it's all or nothing here lads, let's just leave everything out on the pitch' and you can go like that.
“We'll be the same. We've got no reason to go and play for a draw, we'll set up the way we always set up and we'll try and win the game so it should be two teams really going hammer and tong at each other, which is good for the neutral but not good for the managers.”
The two sides played out a 1-1 draw when they met earlier in the season at AESSEAL New York Stadium and Warne is expecting Saturday’s hosts to be equally resilient when they meet at Home Park.
“I think when we played them here they were really hard to break down,” he continued.
“We went down to 10 men and still managed to get a draw but they looked pretty well-organised and with Ryan Taylor up top they had a goal threat.
“I could see that they were really diligent and they've gone on a really good run of not conceding many goals and having really good home form, so we're well-aware of the task ahead of us.”
This weekend’s trip to Plymouth follows the midweek trek to Gillingham which saw the Millers prevail as 1-0 winners and Warne admits that preparations will deviate slightly from the norm to accommodate the long journey.
“We're going down early and we're going to train at Bristol Rovers, so we'll train and split the journey up,” he explained.
“We'll let the lads have a good stretch and go through a few set pieces and then finish the rest of the journey.
“We'll have a team meeting at night and then let the lads really rest up and get ready for another scrap.”