Rotherham United boss Paul Warne caught up with the press following today’s 4-0 victory over Peterborough United at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
Richard Wood, a Joe Ward own goal, Matt Crooks and Kyle Vassell completed the comprehensive victory against the Millers’ promotion contenders.
“That’s how I want the lads to play and if we lose that way, obviously it’s on me,” said Warne.
“We got more crosses in and possibly turned away a few opportunities, first-half. I don’t think we got the goal our possible pressure deserved.
“We asked them to speed it up a little bit at half-time and they did that. There were some really good performances, obviously. I thought Dan Barlaser was excellent in midfield, as was Crooks. Thommo (Adam Thompson) is playing right-back for me and giving us some reassurance. He’s a really good footballer and I’m pleased for him because he’s been out for a while since the start of the season.
“I thought, at times, Chieo (Ogbene) was literally unplayable. There were some really good performances, on and off the ball. We just have to get them in tomorrow and get them recovered for another game in a few days.
“All our home games, fairly or not, we were the underdog last year in every game. The fans spurred the players on and vice versa. This year it feels like we go into every game with people expecting us to win. Teams have come here, shut up shop and we’ve found it difficult to break them down.”
The victory takes the Millers up to third with Blackpool the next visitors to AESSEAL New York Stadium on New Year’s Day, with Warne pleased that his side have picked up six points over the festive period.
“We’ve had more possession than every team here apart from Oxford,” added Warne. “More crosses, more shots but we just haven’t had the ball in the back of the net. I always thought we were due a performance and probably today everything that could go right for us did.
“I want the Rotherham fans to leave here with a smile on their face. Win, lose or draw I want them to be happy. I think over recent weeks, we haven’t played as well. Especially against Fleetwood at home, we were poor but we had a scratched side out. Today, we had a real strong side out and that’s the potential of the team. We’ve got back to back home games coming up and the lads take a lot of confidence from today.
“We tell the lads if you run past people and cross the ball, it’s a pretty simple game. Today I thought, more often than not, we took the easy choice which is an effective choice.”
The only sour note of the afternoon was the dismissal of Joe Mattock, who will now miss three matches for the Millers.
“I’m disappointed and agree with the decision,” said Warne.