Last Rotherham United mission this season as Leam Richardson builds for League One

The Millers won for the first time in 2024 as they beat Millwall on Monday to prevent relegation being confirmed but the drop is certain to come.

Rotherham are on 23 points, the same number as the record low for the division that they set in 2017, and Richardson is calling on side to go on and exceed that figure in the last six matches.

“It's something we're very aware of,” the head coach said. “It's something we're striving towards. It's not what we set out to do, as a club, at the start of the season, I'm sure. But let's have a collective aim to end the season well.”

Their first chance to surpass the 23 mark comes on Friday night when Plymouth Argyle, who are one of the teams in the second-tier survival battle, are the visitors to AESSEAL New York Stadium.

“It's a game under the lights in front of our fans on Sky TV,” said Richardson after the 2-1 triumph over Millwall.

“Hopefully we can have a similar competitive nature to our performance, add a bit of quality and get the same result.”

The Millers are 18 points adrift of safety and, as they also have by far the worst goal difference in the Championship, have no chance of staying up.

But a strong finish would set them up for next term, believes Richardson who has had previous success in the lower leagues with Accrington Stanley, Chesterfield, Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic before moving to New York in December.

“We need to go into the summer with some sort of momentum,” said the boss of four months. “We know we're in transition, we know we're in a rebuild.

“Performances and results have been indifferent all season - way before I came in, while I've been here.

“The great indicator of the future is the past. I've got a very, very strong past and hopefully I can put that into the future.”