Teammates, friends, wedding pals ... Sean Morrison and Lee Peltier are Rotherham United's happy couple

SEAN Morrison and Lee Peltier are more than just teammates. They're big pals too.  

So much so that the latter had a role at the former's wedding.

The pair go way back, to five years together at Cardiff City in the Championship and Premier League from 2015 to 2020.

Now they're reunited again after re-signing for Rotherham United for the forthcoming second-tier campaign and Morrison couldn't be happier.

“It's amazing,” he said. “Pelts is one of my best friends. He was a groomsman when I got married. For both of us, it was huge that we knew the other was staying and we'd be together next season.”

The 32-year-old veteran of more than 400 appearances as a pro, is glad of the presence of another man: Matt Taylor, the boss who brought him to AESSEAL New York Stadium on a short-term deal in January.

They've worked together for only a few months but the Millers manager, only five years into his managerial career, has made a big impression on the newcomer.

“Matt’s just starting out as a boss but the way he speaks to people, the way he treats his players, his staff, the people around the club is absolutely right,” Morrison said, “He's another level, absolutely brilliant, a great guy.

“He's trying to do everything he can to push Rotherham in the right direction.”

The centre-half managed just two matches for the Millers before his season was terminated by a quad injury but he remained a big influence in the dressing as the club closed in on Championship safety.

Taylor saw how much effort the player put into his rehabilitation and was prepared to offer him the chance to extend his stay in South Yorkshire.

“Obviously, being out was really frustrating,” Morrison said. “However, just being around the manager and his staff felt really good. I knew a few of the boys quite well from previous clubs. There was a really good changing room, a really good group dynamic, which I loved.

“Come the end of the season, I knew I wanted to come back up here. I had conversations with the manager and fortunately he wanted to keep me. 

“Any professional footballer wants to play at the highest level they can so to have the opportunity to stay in the Championship is massive for me. I'm honestly delighted to be here.”

He and his buddy, Pelts, aged 36, bring proven Championship quality and nous and almost a 1,000 games between them to the Millers table.

Lee Peltier

Right-back Peltier played 36 times last season. He'd signed a one-year contract under previous boss Paul Warne and kept his place following the October appointment of Taylor who has kept on the well-travelled Scouser for a further 12 months.

“Lee and I have got a great relationship,” Morrison said. “We played lots of games together at Cardiff. The manager here wanted some experience - not only on the pitch but in the changing room as well - to help guide the younger members of the squad in the right direction.”

A ruptured cruciate knee ligament had led to a year of inactivity and a departure from the Bluebirds for 'Mozza' prior to his arrival at New York last term.

It was worth the risk for Rotherham who wouldn't otherwise have been able to land one of the Championship's most respected defenders. Now that he has signed on again, the hope is that, after the ACL setback and then the quad issue, his luck is due to turn.

“When you get injured it's the worst thing in the world, especially if you need surgery, which I did in both cases,” he said. “It's been a long time on the treatment table.

“I've tried to work on things I've not had the opportunity to do over my career. Seasons are so hectic with all the games and training that you don't get to work on things in the gym. Hopefully next season I'll get to see the rewards of that.”

Having been given the all-clear by the Millers medical team in the final week of last season, the former Reading man spent his break running and in the gym in readiness for last week's return for pre-season training.

“I'm feeling really good and excited to get going,” he said. “I don't need to go out there and break any records. It's just about making sure I'm in the best condition I can be for (August 5) opening day.

“I'm not a spring chicken anymore and I need to learn to manage my body. You get to an age where you realise you maybe have to take a day off here and there - maybe get on the bike or get in the gym and do bits you don't usually have the opportunity to do.”

His first action may come tomorrow evening in the opening summer friendly at Roundwood against non-league Parkgate as preparations continue for next season's challenge of matching last term's 50-point haul that brought 19th spot and safety in Rotherham's first year back in the second tier

Once more, the Millers will be the Championship's smallest club yet Morrison is confident a repeat of the survival mission is on the cards.

“People on the outside won’t expect anything of us, but it's absolutely possible to do the same if not even better,” he said.

"The more times we stay up, the more the infrastructure is going to grow and the club's going to gain more and more from it."

His thoughts turned to the part he and his groomsman could play in that.

“To have one of your closest mates in the team is brilliant,” he said. “And the fact that he plays full-back so he's directly next to me makes it even better.”

Morrison and Peltier ... that could be some marriage on the right side of the Millers rearguard.