How an untried prospect almost made it into Rotherham United's first-team squad

ROTHERHAM United teenager Nat Ford came close to receiving an SOS first-team call from manager Matt Taylor last weekend.

The Millers were hit by a shortage of goalkeepers as both their senior shot-stoppers, Viktor Johansson and Josh Vickers, were carrying injuries and their attempts to make a seven-day emergency loan signing drew a blank.

At one stage, it looked like number three Robbie Hemfrey would have to play in the Championship clash at Bristol City, with Ford, aged 18, covering for him on the bench.

In the end, Johansson made a quicker-than-expected return against the Robins and Hemfrey was the substitute keeper.

Ford, who joined the club as a nine-year-old, plays for the academy side and is considered a top prospect. His dad is former Millers shot-stopper Stuart Ford.

Thirty-seven-year-old keeper coach Scott Brown, who had a long playing career between the sticks, wasn’t an option for the Robins game as he would have had to have been registered as a free agent and the deadline for that type of deal had passed.

Rotherham were hampered in their bid to bring in emergency cover by an EFL rule that restricted their search to the Championship, League One and League Two.

“It’s such a strange situation,” Taylor said. “We weren’t able to go to Premier League sides or across the border (into Scotland). We were so, so limited.”

Had the Millers made a signing, Johansson wouldn’t have been ineligible for tonight’s visit of Cardiff City as the Swede would have been officially declared injured for the week-long period of the loan.