In search of their first points of the League One season at the second time of asking, Rotherham United will welcome Bristol Rovers to the New York Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts suffered an away defeat in their first game back in England's third tier last weekend, while their visitors got off the mark with an opening-day win.
Match preview
© Reuters
Rotherham United head back to the New York Stadium on Saturday aiming to get off the mark in their League One promotion bid after a losing start last weekend, having set their sights on an immediate return to the Championship this season.
The Millers' two-year stay in the second tier ended in May, having finished 24th on just 27 points, and they turned to returning boss Steve Evans, who guided them to two promotions from League Two to the Championship in his last stint between 2012 and 2015, for the final three outings and their 2024-25 promotion bid.
After a final-day 5-2 thrashing of Cardiff City in the second tier and a busy pre-season schedule, their campaign began with a tough trip to Exeter City on Saturday, and the South Yorkshire outfit left empty-handed as Caleb Watts netted the only goal of the game 19 minutes from time at St James Park.
Evans's men did then manage a first competitive victory of the season on Tuesday, though, hosting Crewe Alexandra in the EFL Cup first round and progressing as Sam Nombe and Hakeem Odoffin turned the game on its head after Matus Holicek put their visitors 1-0 up early in the second half.
Now aiming to build on a first victory of the season, albeit not as convincing as Evans may have wished, Rotherham United will now turn their focus back to League One and bid to put their first three points on the board with another triumph at the New York Stadium.
Their visitors, meanwhile, make the trip to South Yorkshire aiming to make it two wins from two in League One under the management of former Millers boss Matt Taylor.
Taylor, who led Rotherham United to Championship survival in the 2022-23 term before departing early last season following a tricky start, took over as Bristol Rovers manager in December and oversaw a 15th-placed finish, having taken charge of 28 league outings in which his side added 33 points to their tally to finish on 57.
The Gas then headed into a first full season under his management on the back of a pleasing pre-season schedule, and they made no mistake in getting off the mark at home to Northampton Town last Saturday, despite the game looking set to end goalless, as Bryant Bilongo broke the deadlock with the decisive goal in the 92nd minute.
A trip to second-tier Cardiff City then followed in the EFL Cup first round on Tuesday, and they stood strong until after the hour mark, only for Mark McGuinness to open the scoring for the hosts in the 68th minute before Rubin Colwill put the game out of sight in injury time.
With positives to take from that midweek outing, Bristol Rovers will now turn their focus back to England's third tier and look to build on their opening-day win with another positive result in a tough trip to the New York Stadium on Saturday.
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
After making some rotations to his Rotherham United squad between their season-opener last weekend and Tuesday's EFL Cup tie, Steve Evans has several decisions to make heading into Saturday's contest, having moved to a back four in midweek after Cameron Humphreys, Sean Raggett and Jamie McCart lined up in defence against Exeter City.
He may opt to switch back to the back three, with Hakeem Odoffin bound to return from the outset to join Christ Tiehi in the engine room after scoring their winner last time out.
Jordan Hugill and Sam Nombe, who opened his account for the season against Crewe Alexandra, will compete to join captain Jonson Clarke-Harris up front, with Mallik Wilks not expected to feature having only arrived on loan from Sheffield Wednesday on Thursday.
On his return to the New York Stadium, Matt Taylor could deploy the same Bristol Rovers starting XI from last week's 1-0 win over Northampton Town, with Taylor Moore, James Wilson and Clinton Mola bound to reform a back three.
Kamil Conteh and Grant Ward should both return to the midfield despite competition from Jake Garrett and former Miller Jamie Lindsay, leaving Isaac Hutchinson to lend support to the attack.
Summer signing Promise Omochere should again lead the line alongside Scott Sinclair, while Bryant Bilongo will look to cause problems on the left-hand side after netting the decisive goal last weekend.
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Phillips; Humphreys, Raggett, McCart; Rafferty, Tiehi, Odoffin, Bramall; Hungbo; Clarke-Harris, Hugill
Bristol Rovers possible starting lineup:
Griffiths; Moore, Wilson, Mola; Thomas, Conteh, Ward, Bilongo; Hutchinson; Sinclair, Omochere
We say: Rotherham United 2-1 Bristol Rovers
Despite their slow start, Rotherham United have plenty of quality in their ranks and should expect to kick into gear under Evans sooner rather than later.
With home advantage, we back them to prevail over Taylor's Bristol Rovers on Saturday and put their first points on the board.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
