A trip to Ashton Gate Stadium to face Bristol City is next for Paul Warne’s Rotherham United in the Sky Bet Championship. Here we take a look at who the Millers will be facing on Saturday in our opposition analysis…
In the Dugout:
Lee Johnson will be the man in the dugout. The 37-year old was a midfielder as a player, starting at Arsenal and Watford, before representing; Brighton, Brentford, Yeovil Town, Heart of Midlothian, Bristol City, Derby, Chesterfield and Kilmarnock. He made a total of 472 appearances and scored a total of 35 goals in his career as well as representing England C five times, scoring once.
As a manager, he started at Oldham Athletic in March 2013 at the age of 31, making him the youngest manager in the Football League at the time. He stayed until February 2015 when he joined Barnsley for a year. He left in February 2016 to join Bristol City for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half-year deal. He won Manager of the Month in September 2017 and managed to get Bristol City to the Semi-finals of the EFL Cup last season, beating teams such as Manchester United.
Stats:
Bristol City sit 12th in the league table, seven points off the Play-Offs. The Robins are unbeaten in their last six games, but they have drawn their last three games. They experienced a 1-1 draw with Brentford on Boxing Day. Eros Pisano opened the scoring for the hosts before the Championship top scorer Neal Maupay equalised for Brentford with his 15th goal of the season.
Previous Meetings:
This is the 52nd meeting between these sides, with the first meeting being in December 1934, with City beating the Millers 2-1 at Rotherham in the FA Cup. Rotherham have won 22 times while Bristol have won 19 times, with there being 10 draws. Bristol City also haven’t won at Rotherham since November 1995. In the last five games, three of them have ended in draws with Rotherham last beating the Robins in November 2015. A 3-0 victory courtesy of a brace by Jonson Clarke-Harris and a strike from Lee Frecklington sealed all three points that day. In the last fixture, it was 0-0 draw in October 2018 at the AESSEAL New York Stadium.
Ones to Watch:
Our ones to watch start with Finland international Niki Mäenpää. The 33-year old signed for Bristol City on a free transfer in the summer from Premier League club Brighton and has made 26 appearances for the Finland senior side. He has impressed in recent weeks and will be looking to continue his good form in goal.
In defence, Italian fullback Eros Pisano scored his first goal in English football last time out. The 31-year old has represented Varese, Pisa, Palermo, Genoa and Hellas Verona in Italy before joining Bristol City in 2017. He has also represented the Italy U20 Serie C side in 2006 and has won the Series D and Lega Pro Seconda Divisione in his career.
In midfield, Marlon Pack is experienced in the English game. The 27-year old has made over 200 appearances for Bristol City alone since joining from Cheltenham Town in 2013. He was in the PFA Team of the Year for League Two two seasons on the bounce in 2011/12 and 2012/13.
Upfront, Mo Eisa could get an opportunity to step up. The 24-year old Sudan international stepped up from non-league Greenwich, where he scored 57 goals in 100 games, to Cheltenham in July 2017. After breaking Cheltenham’s record for most goals scored in a season with 25, the striker earned a move to Bristol City in July 2018 after a successful collection of awards, which included being nominated for League Two Player of the Season.