In a playing career spanning over 15 years, you’d have been forgiven for thinking there wasn’t much Rotherham United defender Lee Peltier hadn’t seen in football.
Even for him though, a break midway through the season, was something he’d never before come across. However, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar, the Premier League, Championship and other top leagues in Europe were presented with a break in action.
During the pause, the Millers jetted off to an overseas training camp in Cyprus and have this week been building up to Saturday’s return to action.
Prior to this, manager Matt Taylor afforded his players and staff with the opportunity to take some time off in order to recharge the batteries and Peltier feels that the whole squad has benefitted.
“The break has been brilliant for me,” Peltier told www.themillers.co.uk.
“I got to spend some time with my family and got to watch my son on the weekends, which I haven’t been able to do previously.
“We’d had a lot of games leading up to the break, so it was good to be afforded a bit of a break to recharge the batteries a little.
“Not just for us, but for every team. The game come thick and fast, the intensity of the games can take their toll on the body, so it was good in that sense as well.”
Peltier arrived at AESSEAL New York Stadium in the summer following the expiration of his deal with Middlesbrough and is one of the more senior players in the dressing room.
As well as offering a wealth of experience, especially at second tier level, the defender has been able to offer consistent displays on the field.
“I always back myself to play, a played a lot at Middlesbrough last season as well,” he stressed.
“I have done that this season too and I’ve enjoyed it, hopefully I get to play a lot more. I feel fit and strong, obviously, as long as I feel like that, the more I’ll play."
“I’ve been in the Championship for years, so I know what to expect. Right now, I feel good, I’ve got a lot of experience and if I didn’t feel like I could compete, I wouldn’t be putting myself out there.
“At the moment, I’m confident and I feel like I’m playing well. Long may that continue.”
The Millers will be in action for the first time since 12th November when they host Bristol City on Saturday and the fixture calendar is not set to relent, with the festive period around the corner.
With the games set to come thick and fast, Peltier insisted that he and the rest of the squad are relishing the challenge.
“I think as the season has gone on, we’ve got more and more belief in ourselves and it has really shown in some of the results we’ve had."
“As well as that, there have been times this season where we haven’t picked up the results we deserve and had we got them, we’d be higher up the table.
“In general, I’m confident that this team can continue to do well. I love this time of year, the Christmas schedule is great.”
“In the past 15 years for me it has been solely focused on football and I’m looking forward to getting going this time around as well.”
