Rotherham United: How highly does Warne rate his Millers midfield?

The boss still plans to add another striker and possibly a defender to his squad who start their programme of summer friendlies on Saturday against non-league Parkgate FC before flying out for an eight-day stay in Austria.

But he is already happy with the strength in depth he has at his disposal in the Millers engine room, even though he has lost former loan star Tom Adeyemi to Championship Ipswich Town.

“My midfield has to be up there with the top two or three in the league,” he said. “I might play 1-8-1!

“With the artillery we have in the middle of the park and out wide, I really think that there are goals in the team.”

Warne has boosted his midfield options by signing Darren Potter and Ryan Williams, and also has Lee Frecklington, Will Vaulks, Jon Taylor, Joe Newell and Anthony Forde to choose from.

Another midfield man, former Bolton Wanderers player Liam Trotter, has also joined Warne and his men for pre-season training.

The Millers made a substantial offer to Adeyemi, whose contract was up at Cardiff City, but the 25-year-old had never made any secret of his desire to stay in the second tier.

“Rotherham were the only League One club I would have signed for,” he said. “I had a brilliant time with them. I just felt I owed it to myself to play at the highest level I could.

“Warney is a fantastic man to work for, the lads are great and I really appreciate how welcome the fans made me.

“They’re a special club. I was gutted we weren’t able to stay up last year and I wish them all the best for the coming season.”

Warne has brought in five new faces - Potter, Williams, centre-half Michael Ihiekwe and strikers David Ball and Jamie Proctor - and one more forward and a new right-back are all that are left on his wanted list.

“I’m pretty pleased,” he said. “I’ve got two players for every position, apart from right-back, but Dominick Ball or Will Vaulks can cover that. It’s just up top where I need a bit more.

“In games, when things might need changing, if I’m honest, you always want to turn round and see attacking options. it’s not very often you turn round, look at your bench and think: ‘God, I wish I had three centre-halves sitting there.’”

Central defender Kirk Broadfoot, 32, yesterday left Rotherham and joined Kilmarnock on a three-year deal.

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