Rotherham United boss Paul Warne was on press duties on Monday afternoon to speak with the local media ahead of the short trip to face Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in the South Yorkshire derby on Wednesday night.
The Millers boss was asked for his thoughts on the breaking news that Darren Moore had been appointed to the Hillsborough hotseat whilst fielding questions on the availability of Clark Robertson and Richard Wood, as centre half options appear to be limited ahead of the midweek clash with the Owls.
You can read the highlights from what was discussed in Monday's press conference below:
Warne on Clark Robertson’s injury…
“He’s got a hamstring injury and he’ll be out for four weeks.
"This means he’ll be out until the end of March which is up to four weeks all being well. Unfortunately, we won’t see him before the international break.”
Warne on Richard Wood’s availability for the Sheffield Wednesday game…
“He hasn’t trained with the squad today, as I’m recording this on Monday and we’re hoping he will be back with us tomorrow.
“We’re just seeing if he will get any ill-effects from today’s rehab session but we’re hopeful he’ll be able to join in tomorrow.
“He has to get through that session to have any chance of playing on Wednesday.”
Warne on his side’s luck with injuries…
“Injuries and suspensions are never nice, but to miss Icky, Chieo, Robbo, Woody, Jamie Lindsay and Joe Mattock is a big size of our team.
“They’ll all come back at the same sort of time with any lucky, but it is a big miss. We’ve just got to deal with the cards we’ve got at the moment, the lads defended quite well on Saturday, so we take that into the game on Wednesday night.”
Warne on his side’s display against Reading…
"Obviously we’d worked to shape up a certain way and I thought we started the game reasonably well.
"Robbo’s injury wasn’t ideal and I think we had a bit of a wobble but then recovered.
"I’ve watched the game back and I don’t think our attacking efforts were that bad and our effort levels were outstanding.
"No one can argue the effort the lads are putting in and I can’t knock them for that.
"We’re unfortunate that we aren’t taking our chances and I think that is the only thing we are missing."
Warne on the Millers recent run of form…
“I think independently all the games have had plusses and minuses, the one that stands out the most is the Norwich game where the scoreline flattered us.
“Against Forest we possibly looked jaded, but I don’t think we did on Saturday and gave a good account of ourselves against a top six team and probably should have come away with something.
“There isn’t much wrong with how we’re playing, but I’m not stupid enough to think we don’t need to turn these performances into points quickly.
“From my point of view, I’m not disappointed with their effort levels, I don’t come in thinking they have let us down, but we do need to be more clinical in front of goal.”
“We’re not too downbeat, all we can do as coaches is set them up for Wednesday night and try to win a football match.”
Warne on Sheffield Wednesday's new managerial appointment in Darren Moore...
"It is a great signing for Sheffield Wednesday.
"I think he's done brilliantly in his career so far. I thought he did brilliantly at West Brom and was unfortunate to lose his job there and he's done really well at Donny.
"He plays really good, attractive football which people want to see.
"I think he's a really good appointment.
"I spent a bit of time with him last summer when we were doing some punditry work. He's a brilliant bloke and I really enjoyed his company.
"I think out of the last few appointments, Darren is the standout. I'm not over-the-moon with it because I'm competing with him for survival but I think if I was a Sheffield Wednesday fan I'd be very, very happy."
Warne on having to prepare to face the Owls with a new boss in-post...
"It is a massive shock and you know what football is like, we sort of hear everything before it is out there!
"When we sat here today doing the meeting on how we thought Sheffield Wednesday were going to play going through it with the analyst, all of a sudden he said that Darren had got the job.
"All of a sudden, Darren has been playing a different system to what Sheffield Wednesday have been playing, he defends differently on set pieces and has different attacking set pieces.
"Then you're preparing to play a team like it is the first game of the season because you don't know what team he'll pick or which system he'll use.
"Normally we're really meticulous on our planning and this time we can't be. Instead we'll have to explain to the lads, how we're going to beat them, rather than how we're going to stop them."
Warne on South Yorkshire derby occasion added to league position of both sides...
"The only other thing that could add to the occasion is a full house or a decent crowd to make it feel like a real derby.
"The lads performed well in the home game and it was a good game.
"It isn't like a long away trip, of which we've had many. The lads know the importance of the game and we don't have to hit that home to them.
"They just want to win football games if it is a South Yorkshire derby or not, they do out there wanting to win.
"We'll remind them what they're playing for.
"Hopefully I can smile after the game because we've performed well but come away with something."
Warne on wanting to close the gap as quickly as possible...
"I don't want to be in the bottom three and I don't want to be on the run we're on.
"I know I keep saying it and people get bored of it but the performances haven't been as bad as the results suggest.
"We need to get out of the bottom three and we can't keep relying on the fact that we've got a couple of games in hand. A couple of games in hand and five points off is tough because there aren't many teams in the bottom five who win back-to-back games anyway.
"Hand-on-heart, it was always going to be a tough season and so far the lads have given a good account of themselves.
"All three teams who were promoted are looking to take it to the wire and not end up in the bottom three come the end of the season."