More groin concern over Rotherham United star man Ollie Rathbone

ROTHERHAM United will make a late decision on the fitness of key figure Ollie Rathbone as they gear up for tomorrow night's Championship clash with high-flying Sunderland.

The in-form midfielder, described by manager Matt Taylor as "our talisman", has been experiencing pain in his groin in a recurrence of a complaint that bothered him earlier in the season.

He managed to play against Reading last Tuesday and Coventry City on Saturday but the Millers are aware that they can't keep asking too much of the 26-year-old.

"We are still concerned about the issue he has got," said Taylor this afternoon. "We will assess him in the next 24 hours.

"He has not done much today. There is a little bit of pain there. It's in a similar place to where there was pain this time last Monday and we got 70 minutes out of him at Reading.

"It's a question of whether we keep on putting him out there and keep on putting him at risk. We need our best players on the pitch."

The boss could freshen up his squad for the visit to AESSEAL New York Stadium of the fifth-placed Black Cats after saying some of his players looked "leggy" in the 2-0 home loss to the Sky Blues that left Rotherham in 21st spot, two points above the drop zone.

Winger Tariqe Fosu was on the bench on Saturday after a string of starts since his January loan arrival.

"He was at a bit of a physical low," Taylor said. "He has a chance of coming back into the 11."

Another loanee, centre-half Bailey Wright, can't feature tomorrow because Sunderland are his parent club.