Optimistic Lee hangs on to survival belief as he kicks off with a loss
NEW boss Lee Clark remains adamant that he can keep Rotherham United in League One after suffering a defeat in his opening match in charge.
The Geordie admitted ”there's lots to think about, lots to work on”, but insisted following the 3-0 loss at Lincoln City last Saturday that relegation for his 22nd-placed side isn't inevitable.
The Millers were breached three times in the first half at the LNER Stadium and have only eight matches left in which to make up a large margin between them and safety.
“There is a bit of an issue which we don't want to continue – when we conceded the first goal, we lost our way a little bit and the second and third followed quite quickly,” Clark said. “That's something we have to address.
“We're going to have bumps in the road along the way from now to the end of the season. We've got to be able to react better to those. That's something I'll have to talk to the group about. I haven't lost any belief, I'm still very positive.”
Rotherham fell behind in the 17th minute, found themselves two down on 34 minutes and were hit again just before the interval.
“There's lots to think about, lots to work on,” Clark said. “I knew it was going to be tough. That hasn't changed. We have to take things from the game - what we didn't do very well and some little bits that we did.
“We kept some good possessions and had good situations without creating many great openings. I think we started the game quite brightly in terms of being competitive, but we've given away goals that, from our point of view, we're not happy with.”
The 53-year-old revealed that he had spent scant time on the training game with his players since his arrival in South Yorkshire on Thursday morning. “I've had only an hour with them,” he said.
He now has nearly a fortnight to spark improvements before the next fixture – the Good Friday home match against Stevenage.
“I've got a great opportunity to start working with the group,” he said. “I'll learn more about their characters. I've learned a lot today, but I'll learn more in the coming days and I'll be able to get my messages across as well.”
Lincoln stretched their unbeaten league run to 22 games at the expense of the Millers and Clark was full of praise for Michael Skubala's outfit.
“It was a tough, tough game against a terrific side,” he said. “They have all the attributes of a winning team – their work ethic, their desire, their commitment to each other, how they play the game, they're all outstanding.
“They're top of the table and deservedly so. Michael and his staff have done an unbelievable job, they've put together a brilliant group of players. Good luck to them, I hope they get over the line.”