Rotherham United boss Paul Warne assessed his side’s display after a 1-0 defeat at home to Wycombe Wanderers this afternoon.
The visitors held on to their fifth minute lead as the Millers failed to generate any momentum throughout the 90 minutes.
“I think we beat ourselves a little bit today,” said Warne. “We had a few underperformers today, which is regrettable because after our midweek display, back-to-back wins would have put us possibly third with a game in hand.
“It was a good opportunity for us and, if we’re going to have a successful season, we need to get back-to-back wins. Today we didn’t. They got a goal early and frustrated us. We didn’t play at our best and didn’t switch the ball enough and played down the same side a bit too much. In fairness to Wycombe, credit to them they came here and did a job on us. They’ve taken the points, which they fully deserve.
“Our performance just wasn’t good enough. In fairness to Wycombe, they played at Blackpool Tuesday night which isn’t a short journey for them. If we’d have looked jaded towards the end of the game, it’s not an excuse from the start. After we went a goal down, we didn’t look confident. That’s a worry and it’s our job as coaches to put the confidence in the lads.
“I just felt we lost our way a bit today, which was disappointing.”
The Millers failed to force opposition goalkeeper Ryan Allsop into a save on a wet and miserable afternoon at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
“We’ve had a discussion with the lads in the dressing room,” he added. “If our home form was anywhere near our away form, we’d be absolutely flying. I am making excuses and it is a young team that will get better as the season goes on. But they’ll only get better if they perform and win football matches.
“We didn’t force their ‘keeper into any saves. The best chance was Smudge’s header first half. Smudge himself would expect to hit the target but I felt all the set-pieces, we never got second contact and sometimes you need a ricochet but it just wasn’t to be today. I’m disappointed with the goal we conceded and conceding at home early on added to the pressure.”