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08:00:00

Rotherham's survival attempts could be hamstrung by unhealthy losing habit

Rotherham have lost more games than any other team in the top four divisions of English football, a stat which is threatening to undermine their bid to stay in the Sky Bet Championship.

The Millers have been beaten a whopping 16 times from their 25 league games so far, two more than Aston Villa, Colchester, Crewe, Dagenham, Yeovil and York.



It is also four more than crisis-club Bolton, who are four points adrift of safety in the second tier, while fellow occupants of the relegation zone Charlton and Bristol City have three and four fewer respectively.

To make the stat even more damning, it is seven less than this time less season - a campaign that almost ended in relegation.

We have not been quiet in our assertion that the Millers have simply not drawn enough games this season and that is highlighted by the fact that they have gone 13 games since their last stalemate.

Their three draws is the lowest in the Championship and only Hartlepool have drawn less (2) in the Football League, though they have played four less games.

During that 13-game stretch there have been several games where Neil Redfearn's men should have taken a point - trips to Blackburn and Preston and the home game against Wolves are stand-out examples.



At the equivalent stage this time last season, the Millers had drawn 11 games and were regularly keeping their points tally ticking by.

The fact they Millers are not cut adrift in the bottom three is testament to their six wins, which is one more than this time last season and more than all of the bottom three.

They could quite easily be staring down the barrel, and even though they still face a few months of hard toil, if they can start turning some of those narrow defeats - nine have been by a one-goal margin - into draws then their ability to win games gives them a fighting chance.

Comparison of this season and last after 25 games



Pos
W
D
L
F
A
GD
Points
2014-15
20
5
11
9
21
31
-10
26
2015-16
21
6
3
16
30
44
-14
21

If they continue to lose games at the same ratio as the first half of season then relegation will surely be a certainty.

And the 'if you don't win, don't get beat' philosophy is not one that is lost on Redfearn, who admits his side need to be more resilient.


“We are looking for more resilience,” Redfearn said. “We are talking about seconds not minutes when the winner (at Preston) went in. We need to be tougher. We have got to pick ourselves up and go again.


“We have got to pick up enough points to stay in the division. Our performances of late have been good. We just have to make sure our results mirror them.”

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