Leeds 0 Rotherham 1: Five things we learned

Rotherham finally tasted that winning feeling again and wasn't it sweet as Neil Redfearn registered his first success at the helm.

It came at his former club, one who treated him terribly while he was there and just as bad after he has left, and it was against an all-too familiar figure in the opposition dugout in Steve Evans.

Here are five things we learned from the game.

Redfearn deserved that

There is likely to be only one man in the game of football who would have begrudged Neil Redfearn going back to Leeds and winning. Okay, maybe two because of Evans' links to the Millers. Redfearn had a turbulent time as Leeds boss and dealt with all manner of things thrown at him by Italian owner Massimo Cellino and after delivering relative success on the field, found himself sacked anyway. His return to Elland Road was marked in the calendar as soon as he joined the Millers, but Cellino still tried having his wicked way by petulantly denying his former manager a car parking space. But Redfearn had the last laugh and took the three points back to Rotherham and it will have been especially sweet. 

But regardless of the revenge issue, it was a win Redfearn deserved - and needed - for the work he has been doing at the Millers. He's had the toughest of inductions in South Yorkshire, but he's stayed positive throughout and with some wily-looking business in the transfer market, some foundations have been put in place for his side to build on in the vital weeks before Christmas.

Redfearn's signings made an impact

Redfearn may have gone back on his original plan of going with youth by bringing in experienced free agents Leon Best and Stephen Kelly on deals this week, but boy did they improve things for the Millers. Kelly was imperious at centre-half, winning headers, getting in tackles and competing well against the man-mountain that is Chris Wood and the threatening runs of Mirco Antenucci. He could be a real coup. As could Leon Best, who enjoyed a bittersweet debut. He led the line impressively for 75 minutes, showing enough to suggest that he has the quality to be a threat if he can get a run of games under his belt. However, those run of games will not come until mid-December as he saw red for an elbow on Gaetano Berardi and is now facing a three-game ban. Harry Toffolo played his best 45 minutes since his debut and Brandon Barker was an unused sub, but his quality as already been established. With nine changes to the side at Elland Road, this is fast becoming Redfearn's team and on the evidence against Leeds, there's hope.

How Lee Frecklington has been missed

After two and a half months on the sidelines, Lee Frecklington made a glorious return to the Millers side and showcased exactly why he is such an important figure at the club. He immediately added energy into the midfield, making bombing runs forward and getting on the end of things. He was a key component in Redfearn's assessment that the "midfield were facing the right way" and his infectious nature and box-to-box energy visibly lifted the side. It helps that he is a double promotion winner and scorer of the goal that earned safety last season, but the Millers need him to stay fit for this vital period coming up, because the 30-year-old is still more than capable of contributing.

There's that fight

Its absence had been questioned on a number of occasions over the dismal seven-game winless run, specifically against Derby and Ipswich, but it was back with a bang at Elland Road as the Millers showcased fighting spirit, desire and will in bucket loads. From minute one to 90 every player was fighting for the cause and, against opposition more matched to the Millers than in recent weeks, its results yielded success. There were specific moments where players bust a gut to get to the ball first, Kirk Broadfoot, gambling by being drawn to the ball, making a superb block with his man unmarked in the centre waiting for the cross was one and what about Harry Toffolo, sprinting to make a last-ditch tackle when Leeds were through on goal not long after the Millers had gone in front. Even Jonson Clarke-Harris had taken on a new lease of life as a striker who wanted to protect the ball and fight for it. It was the sort of display that you associate with a side who refuse to accept their situation and was light years from the one we saw against Ipswich.

It's like he was never away

The Steve Evans side of the reunion at Elland Road on Saturday has taken a back seat after Redfearn's win and 'car parking gate' but getting one over on the former boss added extra satisfaction to the afternoon at Elland Road. In fairness to the Scot, he acted with grace and decorum throughout the build-up, match and post-match, which indicates his true feelings for the Millers and most people would not begrudge him success at Leeds. However, based on their showing on Saturday that could be some way away, as they put in a display that was all-too familiar to the sort Rotherham used to produce under Evans in the Championship. There was plenty of bluster and large spells of domination, with no lack of effort, but they failed to make it count in the final third, while offering an abundance of hope at the other end with some sloppy defending. He seemed to tone his touchline antics down to level three, instead of off-the-scale, but some things will never change with good old Steve - he spent the first part of his post-match press conference talking about the referee!