Rotherham United defender Wes Harding insists Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship clash against Bristol City at Ashton Gate is a chance to build upon the fitness gained from the midweek battle with Watford and use the extra prep time to pose a threat to Nigel Pearson’s Robins.
Harding - who himself was far from in full-health on Tuesday night - believes that he and his teammates are much better prepared for this weekend’s trip to the South West and are keen to improve on their performance against the Hornets, as they look to regain ground on Birmingham City in the table.
Millers boss Paul Warne will once again be absent from the dugout as he continues to self-isolate but with nearly a week of training under their belts following the reopening of the club’s base at Roundwood, Harding is hopeful of a more positive outcome on Saturday.
“Going into the Watford game we had minimal preparation, which never helps but having a few days to get in, train and focus on the weekend has been good," he told www.themillers.co.uk.
"We feel much better and a lot more prepared ahead of this one."
“Obviously we’re never pleased to lose but I think there was a lot to take from the game, as well as a number of things we can improve on, which we’ll be looking to put into practice on Saturday.”
“We don’t want to dwell on the Watford game and we’re looking forward to getting a chance to put it right tomorrow.”
The Millers turned in an excellent performance in the reverse fixture against Bristol City on home soil which helped them to a 2-0 win and a precious three points in the second tier.
Despite a change in manager at Ashton Gate, Harding has called upon his Millers comrades to replicate the levels which saw them deservedly claim the spoils in the most recent meeting between the two sides.
Following the club’s South Yorkshire derby success at Hillsborough, Warne was seen delivering his post-match debrief to the players on the club’s official channels, labelling each of the remaining fixtures in the 2020/21 campaign as a ‘cup final’.
“It’s a big game,” Harding reiterated.
“We go into every match looking to get three points and that will be the focus for us tomorrow, but we know we’ll have to perform. We’re treating each and every game as our last and we go into them looking to put points on the board.
“We’ll go there looking to do exactly the same as we did when we played them at home and we’ll be hoping to put in an even better performance.
“Three points is the target. If we perform to the levels that we did against them when we last met and the levels we’ve achieved since, there’s no reason why we can’t get something this weekend.”