Rotherham United: Millers head to Germany to step up preparations for new season

Boss Paul Warne stores a lot of faith in the foreign camps, where fitness will be built on the Deister hills, style of play will be developed on the training ground and camaraderie garnered after hours.

The Millers will stay on the continent for a week, taking in two friendlies, one against 1. FC Magdeburg and another behind closed doors.

There will be seven new faces on the plane as summer recruits as Carlton Morris, Matthew Olosunde, Shaun MacDonald, Freddie Ladapo, Daniel Barlaser and Julien Lamy have joined up with the squad.

All seven featured in Rotherham's first pre-season friendly whipping of Parkgate FC on Saturday.

The Millers traditionally open against the non-league outfit and hit the ground running.

Goals from Joshua Kayode, Matt Crooks (2), Michael Smith, Jamie Proctor (2) and Morris did the damage on a productive afternoon.

One man who will not be heading to Germany is Matt Palmer after the midfielder signed for Bradford on a season-long loan.

The 24-year-old has not figured much in Warne's plans for the last 12 months, having joined for a sizeable fee from Burton in 2018.

He helped the Millers win promotion in his first few months at the AESSEAL New York Stadium, but struggled to get into Warne's Championship side.

Palmer almost left the club in the January transfer window, but was held after the Millers missed out on their targets.

He has now headed to the Bantams for the 2019/20 campaign, but can be recalled in January.

Palmer is looking forward to a promotion campaign in League Two.

He said: “I was keen to sign as soon as I heard about the interest.

“I am at a massive club, with a fantastic fanbase. It draws you towards signing.

“The gaffer was a huge factor in me coming here. He is a manager who likes to play a certain way, which very much suits my style.

“The main aim is to get this club back to where it belongs and I am looking forward to hopefully being a big part of that.”