Millers Head Coach Leam Richardson was quick to hail the fighting qualities of his side as they fought back twice to earn a share of spoils against Blackburn thanks to goals either side of the interval from Sean Morrison and Tom Eaves.
The Millers looked to be staring down the barrel of another Sky Bet Championship away defeat at Ewood Park but Rotherham – under the stewardship of Richardson – are made of stern stuff and Eaves’ superb late headed equaliser handed them a vital point in their attempts to stave off the drop.
“Fair credit to the players, they’ve had to go again over the Christmas period and turn out performances. Although I was critical at half-time, I thought we finished the second half, the stronger of the two teams. I thought we took control for large parts of the second half and we could have possibly gone on to win the game.
“We were happy to come back in the first half. We wanted to set solid foundations for the second half but obviously to concede as early and in the way we did in the second half was avoidable in many different ways, but the response we got was fantastic. The players, who came on, gave us a lift and we scored a good goal to get back in it. With the work ethic and endeavour, we deserved a positive result today.
“There will always be tactical and technical issues. The team is still growing and evolving with the bodies we have got and we know we need help with numbers. The challenge the players have faced over the Christmas period is commendable. Of course, you can avoid every goal and we will certainly work on this on the training ground, collectively and individually.
“(Morrison) is one of many you can single out. He is the only fit centre-half at the club. He has looked after himself tremendously well over this period with the age that he is. The performance levels, recently, reflect that and the players at the side of him have learned a lot from him. He deserved his goal. We knew we would be a threat from set pieces.
“Tom (Eaves) has been training terrifically well. I thought he worked hard to score that goal. It’s a Tom Eaves goal. He was in the right place at the right time. It was a great ball from Revs (Seb Revan). I thought we were in the ascendancy at that point so it was a great time to score. His professionalism is top class and all credit to him for the goal.”