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10:01:00

Rotherham 1 Norwich 2: 5 things we learned

Rotherham lost for the fourth time this season, but it was an impressive performance against Premier League Norwich in the Capital One Cup.

Indeed, had it not been for an raft of missed chances the Millers would have advanced into the third round.

Here are five things we learned from the game.


Same old story

Rotherham again were left to regret their inability to put the ball in the back of net – how many times has that been the case over the last couple of seasons? The Millers, although sometimes exposed by Norwich's slick passing, held their own for much of the game and created enough chances to have won it. The cost of not been able to convert golden chances was never more evident than in the first half when Jonson Clarke-Harris planted his free header straight at goalkeeper Declan Rudd and then 20 seconds later the ball was in Rotherham's net after a quick Norwich breakaway. Their spell of sustained pressure in the second half had to yield a goal and as you saw chance after chance slip away the inevitability of the Canaries' second goal increased. The Millers even had opportunities to get back into the game aside from Paul Green's effort, as the less we say about Matt Derbyshire's effort when he had an open net the better. It's a bad trait to have and it has cost the Millers a lot of games over the last 12 months. At least against Norwich there were no points dropped.

Paul Green still can't head

He did give Rotherham something to go for in the final 10 minutes when his sweetly struck volley went through a crowd of players, but Green then missed the best chance to sneak an equaliser and force extra-time. It should have come as no surprise as it was a headed opportunity – something we know is not his strong point. On a number of occasions last season, Green, who has never rediscovered his autumn form of last year, put headed chances wide or over, with notable ones going wide against Cardiff, Brentford, Birmingham and Blackburn. He had the chance to redeem himself after Chris Maguire whipped in a cross late on, but unmarked and eight yards out the former Republic of Ireland international skewed his header over the bar. There was unlikely to be any other outcome.

JCH is coming good

Considering he was not even in the matchday squad for the first three games of the season, it has been some turnaround for Clarke-Harris, who is just beginning to show exactly why the Millers paid £400,000 for him. Starting two games in a row for just the second time in a Millers shirt, the striker was a menace against Norwich, with his surging runs, ability to find himself in dangerous positions and his physical strength. There are issues still to address – Steve Evans was constantly barking at him to chase and close down and he should have scored at least twice - but it was an impressive performance by the former Oldham man. With Jordan Bowery seeming to have fallen out of favour – it's now his turn to not even make it to the matchday 18 – Clarke-Harris' arrival to the party has given Evans a timely boost.

Now Evans has a choice to make on his goalkeeper

The sight of Adam Collin's name on the teamsheet was something that a lot of people have been desperate for given the doubts over rookie first-choice Kelle Roos and the Wembley hero did not let anyone down. He looked assured in the area, his handling was good, the defence seemed to know exactly where he was and what he was doing and he produced several good saves. Evans, who said only last week that Collin's form was not good enough to displace Roos, conceded that Collin had done a good job, though raised questions whether he could have saved the first goal. Now Evans has to decide whether he sticks with Collin for the visit of Fulham on Saturday or revert back to Roos. One on hand there's a goalkeeper in Collin, who did nothing wrong on Tuesday, but the manager seems not to have complete faith in versus a rookie who has been error-strewn in his first few games. This one could have Evans pacing his bedroom over the next few nights.

Let's see if Declan Rudd is available for loan

If Evans is as good a mates with Norwich boss Alex Neil as he says, then he must be tempted to put a phone call in and ask if Canaries goalkeeper Declan Rudd is available for loan. Rudd, the usual number two at Carrow Road, put in a display that Evans described as the “best goalkeeping performance at New York Stadium in its short time” and he may not be far wrong. Rudd undoubtedly won it for the Canaries with some outstanding saves, three in the second half that were to borrow a phrase from Evans, “simply stunning”. The double stop to deny Greg Halford and then Joe Newell was brilliant and then his flying save to tip Matt Derbyshire's curling effort around the post was breathtaking. With the Millers still having the goalkeeping issues outlined above, on the evidence of Tuesday's night's game, Rudd would be an answer to those problems.


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