Paul Warne talks to www.themillers.co.uk...
Rotherham United’s return to English soil will mark another step-up in the pre-season programme, according to boss Paul Warne.
The Millers manager will split his squad for two friendlies this evening at Sheffield FC and Stocksbridge Park Steels, where his players will return to action having most recently faced SC Wiener Neustadt in Austria on Saturday.
As the pre-season programme continues, Warne admits he has been happy with the outcome of the intense training camp in Austria and says his players will now be closely scrutinised as they look to earn a place in his 2018/19 Sky Bet Championship side.
“It's two weeks in now and next week we will really we start judging them,” he told www.themillers.co.uk.
“We're judging them all the time but at the end of this week we'll have a good feel of where we're at. Hopefully we'll have another couple of bodies in, but only if they're right for the club.”
“The lads have used Austria for what it is and they've trained hard and they've got closer as a group.
“They've done two solid weeks of intense training and we're really pleased. The lads are tired and they had a bit of time to relax on Saturday night before we flew back on Sunday.”
Tonight’s tests against the two local non-league sides precede friendlies against Cardiff City and Mansfield Town, with a game also set to take place behind closed doors this week.
Warne says the run-outs against Austrian opposition, who are further into their pre-season programme than the Millers, served his side well.
“We worked on play in and out of possession and they probably won't be too dissimilar in that respect to Brentford, who we play first game of the season,” he continued.
“The lads have had that experience and we come back happy.
“The Cardiff and the Mansfield games are coming and we'll play a game behind closed doors before then.”