Farewell, Dexter ... the best and worst of loanee Lembikisa in a Rotherham United shirt

He was a youngster taking his first steps in senior football in a division renowned for the demands it places on players.

The right-back, who arrived at Rotherham United in the summer as 19-year-old on a season-long loan from Premier League Wolverhampton, could feel the physical effects.

His answer after matches to what he was planning next was generally the same: "Going home to sleep."

His time at AESSEAL New York Stadium came to an early end this week when Wolves took advantage of the transfer window to recall him from the bottom-placed team.

A move which had started so well and promised so much hadn't quite worked. It turned out that the Jamaica international was a defender whose weakest part of his game was defending.

Matt Taylor, the manager who brought him to S60, liked that he saw at first; we all did. Dexter was dashing in attack, he backed himself on the ball, he could slip by an opponent for fun, he played without fear, sometimes he delivered a devastating cross.

He also scored that stunning goal to set Rotherham on their way to victory over Norwich City on a September 2 day when the Millers produced some of their slickest football of modern times.

Even then, Taylor gave a prescient warning: “He will have his moments of inconsistency. The Championship takes its toll on any young player.”

The flaws in the Bristol-born player's game would begin to emerge.

Just as he could easily beat a man, he could be easily beaten himself. Positionally, he was found wanting too.

His failings led to goals for Sheffield Wednesday, for Hull City, for Blackburn Rovers, and there were other, similar lapses with the same outcome.

Lembikisa was at the opposite end of the age scale to Lee Peltier and the opposite to that grizzled veteran in his approach.

What has never been in doubt is that he has talent. He did some of his best work with the Millers as a wing-back, all of his best work in the opposition half.

He was a lovely kid: quietly-spoken but engaging, always smiling or close to smiling.

"I've not played regular senior football before so to do it for the first time in the Championship is a good challenge for me," he said as he settled in following his late-July move to New York.

It's not an easy gig being so callow and trying to develop at a club that have spent most of the campaign in the bottom three.

There were 22 league starts, three more as a substitute, and single outings in the League Cup and FA Cup. He will have learned much and still has much learning to do.

Rotherham did well to get him in the summer amid interest from bigger Championship sides. It's possible he will now join one of those and bloom in more attacking circumstances. Those quick feet, in the right setting, could spark quick progress.

Maybe it will be as a wing-back, or even a full-blown winger, rather than as a full-back.

As a defender with Rotherham, despite all that rest he gave himself, he was too often caught sleeping on the job.