REACTION: Warne welcomes honesty after big defeat

Whatever the shortcomings in terms of footballing ability, the interim manager has always been able to defend the effort poured in by team, even during defeats.

After the 5-0 beating at Cardiff, he couldn't, saying some players didn't "man up" when the going go rough.

Warne still fell short of reading the riot act, acknowledging their recent efforts against Blackburn and Huddersfield, but made it clear some had individuals let themselves down.

Speaking after the the game, he said: "I haven't ranted and raved at them, I've just said be honest with yourselves. If you want to knock on my door on Monday and tell me why you think it didn't go right then tell me. I haven't got an ego, my self esteem is pretty good. I don't think I've got all the answers and I haven't because we've lost 5-0.

"Some of the lads let themselves down and at times it was men against boys, I'm not trying to say it was something it wasn't. We weren't unlucky, they were significantly better than us."

Paul Warne and Neil Warnock share a joke before the game.

Missing top scorer Danny Ward, Tom Adeyemi and Semi Ajayi, Warne said he put out the best side he could from his thin squad. He also admitted that wasn't necessarily an excuse for the way the side crumbled in the second half, shipping three goals and looking a demoralised bunch long before the end.

"The first half was pretty dour," he said. "Cardiff scored with their first shot on target and then we conceded the second right on half time. I told the lads to go out in the second half and have a go but we conceded another one so early that  it was a little bit more about damage limitation and after that. I wasn't blowing the minutes down, I was blowing the seconds down because I knew the game had gone.

"Of course I was well aware how Neil (Warnock) plays, trying to turn the full-backs and getting throw-ins in the bottom third of the pitch and putting them into the box and obviously that has given Cardiff great success over the weeks.

"I felt a bit helpless on the side. We didn't create a great deal and they had much better quality throughout their team and a lot more pace and power and we couldn't deal with that."

It turned out to be a much easier afternoon than one-time Millers miracle worker Neil Warnock had anticipated against his old club.

"I didn't feel good about the game with it being my old club and the situation they're in. I'd rather be playing Newcastle and Brighton and teams like that because you can't really win," he said. "I asked the lads to be professional and I was glad to see the second goal go in and even more happy to see the third one go in because I knew that was the killer."