Rotherham United: Paul Warne deflated by Leasing.com Trophy defeat to Manchester United

Warne said before the game that he was not looking forward to it and it is easy to see why.

Just three days after their League One opener in gruelling conditions at AFC Wimbledon, the Millers were forced into action again against a talented band of youngsters playing their first game at this level.

Only one side of the AESSEAL New York Stadium was open to home fans and Warne's side, which consisted of eight changes from that win in London on Saturday, went down 2-0 to goals from Ethan Laird and Largie Ramazani.

Warne was not in a much better mood after the game, either, as he kept his players in the dressing room for a lengthy period of time

“I'm a little bit disappointed. We played against a really good team, obviously,” he said.

"We'd made a lot of changes. We tried to win the game. We had enough chances in the first half to possibly take the lead but they were significantly stronger than us in the second half.

"Our final pass wasn't good enough for us to create enough chances to win a football match. I had a good chat with the lads."

The game was not originally due to be played until September, but United's European commitments meant it had to be rescheduled.

With a run of potential Carabao Cup fixtures and midweek League One games already in the calendar, the Millers had no choice but to schedule it in this week.

"The timing of the game wasn't ideal," Warne admitted.

"We were given only a couple of fixture dates to choose from and this was better than the other one. That's no excuse, though.

“We could have been better, particularly in front of our own fans.

“It was a good test and most of it is about character because they can play, so for Jake (Cooper) to feature alongside Richard Wood is quite a joy for him and I'm sure his experience rubbed off on Akeem (Hinds) too.

"They're early on in their careers as are the Manchester United boys and it's all about levels, but I'm pleased with how the younger lads did and the fixture certainly served a purpose.

“We could've caused them more problems from set pieces, but that's something we have to look at."