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McKenna: It's Not an Easy Place to Go Wednesday, 18th Oct 2023 18:18 Second-placed Town return to action after the international break when they face Rotherham United live on Sky Sports on Friday evening aiming to return to the top of the Championship (KO 8pm). The Blues go into the match having made a remarkable start to the season having taken 28 points from their first 11 league matches, their best performance at this stage in the second tier. Their previous best was the 1960/61 Second Division title-winning season under Sir Alf Ramsey, which would have yielded 24 points after 11 matches had a win been worth three points at that time. On a similar basis, only 16 teams in the history of the second tier from 1882/83 to the present campaign, would have recorded more than Town’s 28 points after 11 fixtures, including this season’s leaders Leicester, who have two points more than the Blues and aren't in action until Saturday when they travel to face Swansea City. Rotherham are currently second-bottom of the Championship on six points from 11 games having finished 19th last season. They have won one in the league at the New York Stadium during 2023/24 - a 2-1 success against Norwich City at the start of September - and have lost two and drawn two. They also recorded an on-penalties victory over League Two Morecambe in the Carabao Cup first round following a 1-1 draw. The Millers go into Friday’s match without a win in their last six matches, losing four and drawing two. Only two teams have scored fewer than Rotherham’s 10 in the Championship this season, while no club in the division has conceded more than their total of 22, eight at home and 14 away. The last four Town matches at the New York Stadium have all ended in 1-0 victories to the home side and manager Kieran McKenna is again anticipating a difficult match despite the current disparity in the sides’ relative positions. “A tough game,” he said. “I think it's a tough place to go. Generally, they've been strong at home and built their success in League One on that. “They got some big wins at home in the second half of last season and have had a couple of good results at home this season as well, so not an easy place to go. “Quite a few of our players have experience playing at Rotherham and in general you know you're going to get a physical, aggressive game that you're going to have to stand up to and they're going to be a team who can give you a lot of problems, especially if you don't defend your box well. And we're going to have to go and stand up to that challenge. “But it's something we're pretty well versed in and we know what the challenge is, so it's up to us to prepare well and go and make it the type of game that we want for as long as we can, and stand up to Rotherham's threats and the things that they do very well.”
Rotherham are now under the management of former Exeter City boss Matt Taylor following Paul Warne’s departure after six years in charge in September 2022. Asked whether the Millers are significantly different following the change of manager, McKenna reflected: “Probably more system-wise. I think in the second half of last season, they played more of a 4-3-3 and they've carried that on for most of the games this year. “But they're pretty versatile between playing a back four and a back five. Even in the Southampton game [at St Mary’s before the international break, which ended 1-1] they started with a back four and made the change after less than half an hour to a back five that helped them get the result. “We know that they're pretty versatile and they've got maybe a little bit more pace in one-v-ones than they had maybe this time last year in the wide areas, but they've also still got the direct threat. “An opponent that we fully respect, they've got a year's extra experience than us in the division and we'll have to go there and play well for sure.”
Quizzed on the importance of Rotherham skipper Jordan Hugill, targeted by Town during his time with Preston, McKenna added: “He's scored a couple of great goals lately that will have grabbed the headlines. “They've got other threats, obviously. [Sam] Nombe is their club record signing [£1 million from Exeter], who they signed in the summer and they've brought in two really good wingers [Andre Green from Aston Villa and Fred Onyedinma on loan from Luton, as well as Arvin Appiah on loan from Almeria] and they've changed their shape a little bit from when we played them in January. “They've got pace, they've got wide threats, they've got, of course, Hugill, who has been scoring some really good goals and they're a big threat on set plays. “We know the opposition that we're facing and we're going to have to stand up to that really well.” Might the game be similar to the recent 1-1 draw with Huddersfield at the John Smith's Stadium? “Stylistically, there's probably some comparisons there,” McKenna reflected. “You can never say for sure, but stylistically that was such a different game to Blackburn, the game before that in the league or the Hull game that came after it, which was so, so different. “I'd expect it to be more on that end of the scale and there are things that we didn't do very well against Huddersfield that we need to do better this game. “And it's not always in your control. We can't dictate how the game's going to be for the whole 90 minutes, but we need to do some things better than we did against Huddersfield to dictate more of the game. “And then, on the other hand, we need to do some of the things that we did well at Huddersfield to get what was a hard-fought point. “I think it's a league of really varied challenges and I think Rotherham away or Huddersfield away are two types of game in which you have to stand up really, really well to have a chance of getting points.”
The teams last met in January in the FA Cup when the Blues ran out 4-1 winners at Portman Road. Then Town were a division below the Millers but now they go into Friday’s match 22 places ahead of the South Yorkshiremen and the favourites, an indication of the Blues’ growth over the last 10 months. “It's not a game that we've looked back on too much, to be honest, because it was a different competition,” McKenna continued. “To be fair, they had a really strong second half of the season after that. Whenever we played them, they'd had a few injuries and they'd lost a few in a row in January, but both clubs went on to a strong second half of the season for Rotherham. “That meant staying up pretty comfortably, and for us, it obviously led to promotion, so both teams finished off last season well. “Of course, we've had a better start to this season, but as I've said before, every game in this division can go either way. The last game they had before the break was [the draw] away to Southampton. “I'm sure everybody would have had it down as a nailed-on Southampton home win and they went there and got a fantastic point. “So we know that it's going to be a really difficult challenge. We can't take anything for granted and we're going to have to perform really, really well to have a chance.” Did that game and the thumping victory over a Championship side add to the squad’s belief? “It was certainly a confidence boost,” McKenna recalled. “I think we played really well in the game and we'd made a lot of changes in the team and, as we’ve spoken about with the cup games this year, that's always a good reflection on the strength of the group and how they're working. “I think the Burnley games after that were probably the biggest ones that the lads really took confidence from. “It was a good performance, but we're not putting a lot of stock into it. At the time, Rotherham were right down the bottom of the Championship and fighting for their survival in the Championship and, being honest, I'm sure they'd say their priorities were probably elsewhere, as were ours. “And they had a good second half of the season and got their survival and I have no doubt we're going to face a really motivated team, and I'm pretty sure we'll be going there full of motivation as well, so I think it'll be a really competitive game.” McKenna is unlikely to stray too far away from the team which beat Preston North End 4-2 prior to the international break. Vaclav Hladky will be in goal with Brandon Williams at right-back, Leif Davis on the left and Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess the centre-halves. In central midfield, skipper Sam Morsy is again likely to be joined by Massimo Luongo with McKenna forced to make one change on the right of the three behind the central striker with Wes Burns out with a shoulder injury. Omari Hutchinson appears the Wales international’s probable replacement with Marcus Harness an alternative option. Conor Chaplin will continue in the centre and Nathan Broadhead on the left with former Millers loanee George Hirst ahead of them. Rotherham manager Taylor has been hugely impressed by the Blues and their start to the campaign. “They've taken the league by storm. They’ve scored so many goals,” he told his club’s official website. “They're the leading goalscorers in the league thanks to their free flowing, attacking football. “It's been impressive to see their development as a group of players from League One going into the Championship. They were always such a big club for League One, let alone Championship level. “We know what to expect from them on Friday. We have to stifle their rhythm and their flow, force them into a difficult game of football and make sure we pack a punch as well.”
Rotherham short on centre-backs with Grant Hall out with a hip problem and Cameron Humphreys and Tyler Blackett both out due to longer-term hamstring issues. Sean Morrison and Lee Peltier, who is primarily a right-back, and are currently the only fit senior players who operate at the heart of the defence. Central midfielder Hakeem Odoffin is back in the squad after a hamstring injury, while midfielder Jamie Lindsay has returned to training after an achilles problem but seems unlikely to be involved against the Blues. Keeper Viktor Johansson will be assessed before the game having been with the Sweden squad in Belgium during the terrorist shooting which saw two Swedish fans killed and another injured, and the match abandoned at half-time. “There's such a contrast between the high that came with the first international fixture where he gained his first cap and then obviously the tragedy in Belgium,” Taylor added. “He's certainly gone through the mill in the last week or so. “We hope he gets back in the next 24 hours in an okay place both mentally and physically.” Town have won 16 of the previous games between the sides (15 in the league) eight have ended in draws (eight), with the Millers having won 13 (13), including the last four in the league. The Blues have won only one of the last nine between the teams in the league since winning 5-2 in South Yorkshire in November 2015 when Daryl Murphy netted a hat-trick. The teams last met in the FA Cup third round in January, the first ever cup meeting between the sides, when Town comprehensively won 4-1 at Portman Road. The Blues went in front just before half-time through Cameron Humphreys, but Conor Washington levelled for the Millers two minutes after the restart. However, a Town penalty netted by Chaplin, a goal against his old club from Freddie Ladapo and a third spot-kick of the match from Burns saw the Blues to a comfortable victory. In the league, the teams last met at the New York Stadium in April 2022 with Rotherham on their way to promotion to the Championship as runners-up in League One. Michael Smith’s 78th-minute goal saw the Millers to their most recent of their four consecutive 1-0 home victories over the Blues, mathematically ending any remaining hopes Town might have had of making the play-offs. The Blues had the best chance of the first half, James Norwood scuffing wide at the far post, but the Millers, who had won only one of their previous seven in League One, were well on top after the break with Smith striking the game’s only goal. In November 2021 at Portman Road, a goal in either half from Ben Wiles and Shane Ferguson saw Rotherham to a comfortable 2-0 victory over the Blues, extending the Millers’ unbeaten run to 15 games and taking them to the top of League One. Wiles opened the scoring on 24 with a shot from the edge of the box with Ferguson adding the second a minute before the hour with Town never looking like getting back into the match. Blues striker Ladapo, who will miss the fixture due to an achilles injury, left the Millers in the summer of 2022 prior to signing for Town having spent three years in South Yorkshire. Ladapo joined Rotherham in June 2019 and scored 41 goals in 78 starts and 41 substitute appearances. Fellow Blues frontman Hirst spent 2020/21 on loan with the Millers, making four Championship starts and 27 sub appearances (plus one more in the FA Cup) without scoring. Friday’s referee is Premier League official Jarred Gillett from Australia, who has shown 27 yellow cards and two red in seven games this season, which includes two matches in the Europa Conference League. Gillett, who will be taking charge of the Blues for the first time, has been officiating in England since 2019/20 and while an A-League referee also took charge of games in the Japanese J-League, the Indian Super League, the Chinese Super League and the Saudi Professional League. Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Clarke, Williams, Donacien, Davis, Ball, Woolfenden, Burgess, Edmundson, Morsy, Luongo, Taylor, Humphreys, Jackson, Chaplin, Broadhead, Harness, Aluko, Hutchinson, Hirst, Jackson, Scarlett.
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