We have to move on: Ekstrand

JOEL Ekstrand says Rotherham United can't afford to dwell on Saturday's beating at Cardiff City.
Joel Ekstrand toughs it out at CardiffJoel Ekstrand toughs it out at Cardiff
Joel Ekstrand toughs it out at Cardiff

The 5-0 setback made for a traumatic debut for the Swedish centre-half, playing his first competitive game since September.

Now 15 points from Championship safety with 13 games to play, Ekstrand and his team-mates have to regroup for this weekend's trip to Brentford where they know they will have to improve markedly if they're to end their long wait for a first away win.

"To lose 5-0 is hard to take for any player and it was difficult to think of any positives," said the 28-year-old, who is still working his way back to peak fitness.

"The timing of Cardiff's goals around half time was tough and we could have fought a bit more, been more nasty, but I think it's just better to leave that game and look forward to the next."

After having to field a depleted side in South Wales, Rotherham will have Tom Adeyemi and Semi Ajayi back at Brentford and hope top scorer Danny Ward will be fit enough to start.

And former Watford man Ekstrand, who has signed in on a temporary deal until the end of the season after a brief spell at Bristol City, says no-one at the New York Stadium is in the mood to let the campaign fizzle out.

He added: "I will do everything I can in my power to do as good a job as possible and so will every player as well as the staff and the manager. That's what I expect from everyone at a football club."

Explaining his decision to substitute Ekstrand in the second half of Saturday's clash, interium boss Paul Warne said: "Joel hasn't played a first team game for about six months so I always knew he was going to be rusty. You can tell he is comfortable on the ball and ideally I'd play him in a three at the back. After an hour he started tiring and I took him off because I wasn't going to risk him getting injured."

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