Rotherham fans' defeatist attitude doesn't fool me

6:50am Friday 21st November 2008

Comments (3)   Have your say »

Stuart McCall won’t be fooled into thinking Rotherham are there for the taking tomorrow.

City head for the Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield to face a Millers side who have conceded seven goals without reply in the last two outings.

When I was walking out of the ground, some Rotherham fans were saying that we’ll thrash them, but I’m not daft enough to believe that

Stuart McCall

The Bantams boss was there on Tuesday to see Rotherham’s 3-0 FA Cup exit at home to Aldershot but he is braced for a typically stern response in the Yorkshire derby.

He said: “When I was walking out of the ground, some Rotherham fans were saying that we’ll thrash them, but I’m not daft enough to believe that.

“They’ll be disappointed after a difficult week but no two games are the same and we’ve seen how well Rotherham have done already this season in very difficult circumstances.”

McCall has been a big fan of Rother-ham’s achievements in successfully overturning their minus-17 start while moving into a temporary home away from Millmoor.

He said: “The manager, the players and the supporters deserve every bit of credit going. They have used that siege mentality and gone out to show the rest of us and made an absolutely fantastic start to the season.

“In normal circumstances, they would be on 26 points, just one behind us. And they’ve had some terrific cup results, beating Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Leicester, Leeds and Wolves.

“They’ve had good results at home, even though from the stand you are well away from the pitch so it’s hard to create an atmosphere.

“I’m sure they raise their game with bigger crowds and we’ll take over 1,000 supporters down there. Make no mistake about it, we know we’ll have to play well.”

City have tightened up considerably in the last two games, restricting MK Dons and Wycombe to few scoring chances. McCall insists they must maintain that defensive vigilance and guard against needless lapses.

He added: “It’s something we need to keep working on day in, day out on the training ground. We must make sure people know their jobs and responsibilities and we will keep reiterating that.

“When I first came in, people said to me that having played at a higher level, I’d get frustrated with the lack of quality. That’s not been the case.

“What can be frustrating is the mental side and when players switch off. That can happen if people aren’t reminded about their responsibilities regularly.

“Somebody only has to switch off and you’ve lost the game.

“We must defend as well as we have been and look to be a bit more creative going forward than last week.”