Rotherham United: Paul Warne hoping for repeat of history after big defeat

The Millers were left red-faced – and hugely damaged in their Championship survival fight – by a 6-1 hammering at Derby.

Not since a shocking display at Cambridge back in 2000 had the Millers been so heavily defeated in the league.

Warne played 90 minutes for Ronnie Moore's Division Two side that day and it turned out to be a seminal moment in the season.

Moore made Warne and his colleagues sit through a video nasty of the game the day after and it had the desired affect as they then embarked on a brilliant run which saw them lose just one of their next 16 games.

That laid the foundations of a memorable campaign that ended up with them winning promotion to the second tier.

The Millers are fighting to stay at that level this year, and only have seven games remaining, but Warne will be hoping the side he now manages will be able to produce a similar response after they held a Monday morning post-mortem.

The boss sat through two 5-1 defeats in the Championship relegation season and a 7-0 humbling at Manchester City in the FA Cup this season, but this left him feeling the worst.

“I don't even think 6-1 flattered them, if I'm truly honest," he said.

"I'm disappointed, obviously, and I'm a little bit embarrassed because that display doesn't sum up our season. That isn't how we are.

"We're playing against a team with three England internationals on their bench. I'm well aware of what we're up against. I still expect us to be better than that."

Meanwhile, Warne has taken a positive outlook on the heated coming together between Millers duo Jon Taylor and Jerry Yates during Saturday's 6-1 hammering at Derby, where Yates appeared to push his team-mate after a pass went awry.

"Tayls is a heart-on-his-sleeve kind of guy and he was frustrated,” Warne said.

"It rears up. It shows he cares.

"It summed up a bad day at the office.

“The body language of my players wasn't what I wanted. You're entitled to go behind but you've got to stick together and go for it.

"I'd just like to write this day off as a bad one and get home. We've got seven cup finals left. We've had defeats before. We just have to bounce back.”