Rotherham's chances of mid-table: 5 key areas

Rotherham begin their second season in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday and after a promising summer of recruitment and pre-season results, confidence is high at New York Stadium.

Even before all that, way back in May, boss Steve Evans went public with a 'mid-table looking up' finish while ever-ambitious chairman Tony Stewart went even further at the weekend by saying he wanted a top-half finish.

That is some ask considering last season's battle with relegation, especially as, although the Millers are stronger, so undoubtedly is the division as a whole.

So for Evans' men to achieve their pre-season target, what are they going to have to do?

Here's five key areas which will help them prevail this season.

1) Get off to a good start

Rotherham fans already know the difference between a good start and a bad start in this division. In 2002/03, they hit the ground running, winning 6-0 at Millwall on the opening day of the season and then going on to lose just two of their opening 10 games. That resulted in the club's highest finish in decades as Ronnie Moore's men registered a 15th-placed finish in the Championship, which could have been higher had it not been for a late-season slump. But just two years later a mammoth 20-game winless start to the campaign saw Moore lose his job and the Millers relegated, with a measly points total - something similar to what happened at Blackpool last season. 

So, the start is absolutely key and on paper at least Evans' men have a run of early fixtures - particularly at home - which could yield some profitable results. Promoted sides MK Dons and Preston are the first two visitors to New York, while Fulham and Cardiff are also early visitors, with trips to Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Charlton which can hardly be classed as daunting. If the Millers can find some early form, there'll go a long way to reaching mid-table.

2) End away-day blues

Those early run of away fixtures could help the Millers get to grips with life on the road as a big improvement is required on last season's form. As daunting as some of the trips were last year, a far cry from the likes of Accrington and Morecambe, Evans’ men were blown away far too easily. They slipped to 11 defeats from their 23 games, winning only three, and their paltry 15 goals was the lowest tally in division – worse than Blackpool. Also, you could also pretty much write them off before any visit to sides in the top half, as they took just four points from away trips to the top 12. To put it simply the Millers have to be better this time around and a year’s experience of going to these grounds should stand them in better stead.

3) Game management

The Millers learnt many tough lessons last season and the biggest one was perhaps the cost of being unable to see games out. Indeed, they dropped an utterly outrageous 14 points from goals scored by the opposition in minutes 81-90+. Late goals are always scored but in the same way that the amount Rotherham scored in 2013/14 was a character trait, they shipped far too many for it to be anything other than a worrying trend. Sorting that out has to be one of Evans’ major priorities as in a tougher division, the Millers are unlikely to have such a buffer of points they can afford to throw away this time around. With a new-look defence full of experience and a squad and management team who are now more streetwise in the Championship, hopefully this is a trait that won't be appearing next season.

4) Defensive solidity

There were a number of times last season when you had to watch Rotherham’s defending through your fingers it was that bad and there were on the end of a few beatings as a result. And that perhaps was a contributing factor to issues highlighted above. There’s a new-look defence this season, though, and in addition to some work from new coach Eric Black it seems as if the Millers are going to be a lot harder to break down. Black has done a lot of work on shape when they are not in possession and they are now a more rigid unit, meaning they will be less likely to ship goals in the manner they did last season. Danny Collins has been there and done it in the Championship and along with the likes of Lewis Buxton, Greg Halford, Joe Mattock and Kirk Broadfoot, the Millers should be more frugal.

5) String more than one victory together and avoid a long winless streak

As well as the Millers did last season in staying up against the odds, especially given the points deduction, they did it without ever winning more than one game in a row. With so many games in the Championship and a raft of midweek rounds, it’s easy to make move up the table in the space of a few days if you can put a couple of wins together. Evans’ men found it tough enough winning one game last season, never mind two, but they have to find away to be able to pick themselves back up after a win and be ready to go again.

One thing they did do well last season, and will need to repeat this season, was to ensure they didn’t get stuck in a rut too often and kept the wins ticking over. In fact, their longest run without a win was nine games, of which three of those also formed their longest unbeaten run of the season. Aside from that stretch (and six of the games were draws), the longest the Millers went without a win was five games. And the ability to keep the points tally ticking over will be again vital to reaching their target.