Rotherham United: Paul Warne praises his team's ingenuity following win over Cambridge

Sunderland, MK Dons and Portsmouth have all been swatted aside by Paul Warne’s relentless side but things were different against the U’s.

They came up against a team who possessed a threat on the break and at times in the second half, had the Millers feeling nervous.

It looked like being an easy afternoon as the hosts surged into a 2-0 half-time lead, with Ben Wiles again finding the net and Dan Barlaser adding a late penalty.

But Mark Bonner’s visitors, hovering just above the relegation zone, got back into it through Sam Smith’s fine goal and tested the Millers’ resolve until Freddie Ladapo’s late header put the game to bed.

That made it 14 games unbeaten in all competitions and saw Warne’s side finally break into the top two.

On this evidence, they look a strong bet to stay there.

Warne said: “They were a really good away side,, no one's going to come here and get their belly tickled, so to speak.

“I expected a hard game, it felt a little bit edgy, we looked a little bit rusty, we weren't probably at our absolute best. But that's credit to Cambridge, I thought they caused us problems.

“Although we did create a lot in the first half that we possibly should have taken more of and then at 2-1 you think, 'Oh my god, is it going to be one of those days where you ended up hanging on to a point'.

“Because if you're the away team, you've got straight back into thinking, 'Here we go, we're right on for it’.

“ But I thought the lads rode the storm really well. And I think the win mostly goes to the keeper and the back three, they won crucial headers at crucial times in the game today, I thought.

“I've been a fan of Cambridge, I think they're really good. They didn't allow us to sustain attacks, which is fair play to them because against most teams we do, but we couldn't really sustain attacks.

“And all in all, we probably played better, but I have respect for the opposition, it's probably down to what they did.”