Rotherham United looking to do it again to Wayne Rooney

The 38-year-old bagged 53 goals for his country before hanging up his boots and moving into management.

He comes up against the Millers as boss of Birmingham City this weekend having lost both of his previous matches in the opposition dugout against them.

That was when he was in charge of Derby County in 2020 in the Championship and Paul Warne's men won 1-0 at Pride Park through a late Jamie Lindsay strike and then triumphed 3-0 at AESSEAL New York Stadium as Michael Ihiekwe, Michael Smith and loanee Ryan Giles hit the target.

Rooney took charge of Birmingham only last month and the Blues, who had been in the second tier's top six under John Eustace, have dropped down to mid-table.

With the Manchester United legend at the helm, City had lost four times and drawn once before beating bottom club Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at home last Saturday. They were in action at Blackburn Rovers last night

Rooney is trying to implement a more fluid style but his side have contributed to their own problems in defence, leading to early supporter unrest.He said: “We want to be a team that plays out from the back, but at the minute we’re not quite there.

“If you do it, you can play through, create chances and get goals, and the fans will say it’s great. If you lose the ball, there’s going to be a reaction. I understand that.”

The Millers are without a number of key men and Birmingham also have injury issues.

Midfielder Alfie Chang is sidelined by a long-term knee issue while centre-half Kevin Long (calf) and attackers Tyler Roberts (calf) and Keshi Anderson (hamstring) have all been in the treatment room.

Left-back Lee Buchanan is fit again after a two-month absence caused by an ankle complaint.