Rotherham United manager Paul Warne was delighted to see his side end the unbeaten start of Coventry City today, as the Millers triumphed 4-0 against the Sky Blues.
Matt Crooks and Michael Smith both bagged a brace of goals as the Millers dismantled Mark Robins’ Coventry City side.
“To win 4-0 at home is a great result,” said Warne.
“Against a really good team who haven’t lost all season in the league, collecting an average of two points a game.
“Most of the things that could go right today, did. We were really pleased. I think we’ve been really good in most games, in periods, but not in entireties. To keep a clean sheet is a boost for the lads and it could have been more.
"Our play, at times, was pretty scintillating, I think we might have got a bit carried away with ourselves in trying to score perfect goals. We asked our lads to press high and it takes a lot of energy to play for me. The lads were off their feet towards the end.
“I have to put it on record that Coventry are a really good footballing side. They went down 10 men – I hate playing against 10 men – and they still created some chances. Generally speaking, it’s great to win and the changing room’s well happy.”
Warne decided to recall Michael Smith to the starting XI, who was supported by Matt Crooks in attack – which paid dividends against the Sky Blues.
“We do a lot of work on the training ground,” continued Warne. “I’ve got great coaches and we put a lot of meat on the bone. We highlighted the system today – a 4-4-1-1 – with Crooksy and Smudge who are both mobile. Smudge was a constant thorn and to see the gameplay come out like that is really good. It takes a lot of energy out of the lads and when I saw 11 minutes go up I thought ‘Oh, my days’.
“We definitely saw the best of him (Matt Crooks) today. It suited him, that bit of freedom.
“We’ve done some soul-searching as a squad and a staff last week. I thought we were good, first-half, at Bristol Rovers but we just didn’t look like us, second-half. I was disappointed because we didn’t look like a team I managed.”
“We wanted to make changes and we’ve always played well as a 4-4-1-1, even though every fan in the country wants to see their team play with six strikers! Today we had the balance right and looked on the front foot. There were some good performances throughout the team and it’s good to see the GPS of Jamie Lindsay, who I thought was excellent.
“I think the fans have enjoyed turning up to watch their Rotherham team today.”