JOSEPH BACK ON THE MEND

The versatile defender, who had made a good impression in his opening appearances, played for around half-an-hour for the Millers reserves as they enjoyed Pontins Cup semi-final success yesterday.

Depending on how he feels over the next couple of days, he could be in contention for the squad for the opener at Hereford on Saturday.

Joseph played against Sheffield United last week but was apparently feeling the effects during that game and had to go onto a course of antibiotics when he became ill.

He missed Saturday's win over Hartlepool but felt better earlier this week and he decided to have a run-out for the reserves.

He took the place of Craig Fleming after about an hour and manager Mark Robins said they would now monitor how he is.

Robins said: "We thought we'd re-introduce him steadily and just play a part in the game to see how he coped. He had been doing some training and wanted to have a go."

Robins also took a look at Wolves midfielder Kevin O'Connor, a former Republic of Ireland U21 international.

Robins aid: "I'm grateful to Mick McCarthy for letting him come. We aren't going to pursue that one right now but it may crop up again further down the line. "

The held-over semi-final was a Pontins League play-off between divisional champions from last season and Rotherham, who won Division One East, played Oldham who were Division One West winners at Millmoor yesterday afternoon. The Millers came out 2-0 winners with two goals from Marc Newsham, one a first-half penalty after Sam Duncum was brought down.

New goalkeeper Steve Cann made his competitive debut and kept a clean sheet. Nat Kerr was also back in action after recovering from a broken toe. Kyle Jacobs, who was on trial pre-season with the Millers, played at right back.

The Millers will play Birmingham City in the final, date and venue to be decided.

Millers Res: Cann; Jacobs, Fleming, (Joseph 62), Kerr (Mills 50), Green; Yates, King, O'Connor (Harrison 80), Duncum; Taylor, Newsham.

Midfielder Mark Hudson has his cartilage operation today to assess the extent of the damage. Millers physio Dennis Circuit will watch the operation and discuss matters with the surgeon.

n Francis Jeffers can rejuvenate his career at Hillsborough and live up to the "fox in the box" tag once placed on him by Arsene Wenger, believes Brian Laws.

The former England striker earned the tag though his penalty-area cunning.

But his career has faltered since his 8m move from Everton to Arsenal six years ago and Laws believes that a move to the Owls can only do him good.

The Wednesday chief said: "Francis has played for and scored for England, and we all remember the comments from Arsene Wenger about him being a 'fox in the box'."

"His goalscoring ability is still there; it just needs to be harnessed in the right way."