Rotherham United: Warne demands more ruthlessness ahead of Championship return

Rotherham United boss Paul Warne has called for his side to be more ruthless in attack as they prepare for their return to the Championship.
Darren Potter has suffered a fresh injury setbackDarren Potter has suffered a fresh injury setback
Darren Potter has suffered a fresh injury setback

The Millers are unbeaten in five pre-season outings and are slowly but surely starting to hit their straps ahead of the new campaign.

But with less than a fortnight to go until the club’s opening match away at Brentford, Warne is looking for more sharpness from his strike-force.

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“I think we need to be a lot more ruthless in the box, but that will come when we get sharper,” stressed Warne.

“Generally speaking, though, we are pleased with a few things, and there are also areas we want to improve.

“Physically we look good, maybe still a little ring-rusty, but we are certainly not quite 100 per cent match sharp.

"We are coming along nicely though."

The Millers first home pre-season friendly is on Wednesday night against Cardiff City (7.45pm kick-off).

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Meanwhile, Darren Potter will be out until 2019 after having a second operation for an Achilles injury.

A freak training-ground collision with Ben Wiles has caused a re-occurrence of the injury, which Potter first suffered towards the end of 2017.

The midfielder was nearing full fitness near the end of last season and this latest setback has been described as horrendous by Warne.

Warne revealed: “He’s had to have another op so he won’t be available until the new year.

"That will be more than a year out, about 16 months out.

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"He came back, trained for three weeks, for the first two he was rusty and then the last day of the last week he got injured again. He had a collision with Wilesy.

“That day we were all on the side saying, ‘Wow, he looks back to his best here’.

"So that was the first time he was really spot on and I thought we’d start including him again.

“Then he had that collision then he had to have another op on his Achilles which is horrendous news for him and also horrendous news for us because I think this league suits him even more."