Millers manager Paul Warne assessed his side’s performance after Rotherham exited the Carabao Cup second round at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.
With penalties looming, the visitors scrambled home a scrappy winner to secure a 1-0 win in the sixth minute of added time.
“I thought it looked like it was going to go to penalties,” said Warne.
“Both teams were good out of possession of the ball and that made it difficult.
“I thought it was a good South Yorkshire derby with a few tackles flying around but it wasn’t a dirty game. I thought it might be a set-piece that got the goal that got the win. Unfortunately for us it was for Sheffield Wednesday in the dying seconds of the game.
“The lads are trying their best to score goals. Their ‘keeper’s made a couple of good saves and Freddie’s had a good chance, first-half. I just thought the longer the game went on, we looked a bit leggy. We haven’t played for 10-11 days and that’s not an excuse, just a reason. We made some changes but, in fairness, Sheffield Wednesday made some good changes as well.
“We do everything we can to win football games and the lads are giving me everything. There’s no complaints from me and, hopefully, it will all click on Saturday.”
As Matt Olosunde limped off to leave the Millers to defend a corner with 10 men, Atdhe Nuihu latched onto a knockdown in the area to win the tie for the Owls.
“You can see how much it means to both sets of fans and both sets of players to win,” added Warne.
“Unfortunately we’re on the wrong end of the result tonight but, hopefully, we’ll be on the right side of it at the weekend.”