REACTION: Win and clean sheet is perfect tonic for Warne

A DELIGHTED Paul Warne praised his Rotherham United players for finally getting over the line and clinching a long overdue Championship victory.

Warne saw Danny Ward miss a penalty and then limp off along with key defender Semi Ajayi before the 1-0 win over Ipswich was secured by Tom Adeyemi’s late goal.

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The fact relegated Rotherham had gone 17 matches since their last win – losing 15 of them – made the victory at the AESSEAL New York Stadium even sweeter.

“When you think we missed a penalty and lost Ward and Ajayi but won a football match, it’s a weird thing," said Warne. “I think that’s why people like coming to football. It’s the fact you don’t know what you are going to see.

“You could see the best Rotherham performance, you could see the worst. You could see ten goals or you could see none, but this was a positive day for a lot of people.”

Despite the satisfaction of clinching his first win as permanent manager, Warne thought the afternoon could have been easier.

Jon Taylor in the thick of it against Ipswich.

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“We performed well, but not as well as we should have. I don’t want to talk down a win but the players need to believe in themselves because they could have taken Ipswich to the sword a bit more,” he said.

“I was a bit disappointed with the first-half performance but I wasn’t with the second half.

“I was pleased for the back four because they did a lot of defending today. I could feel the tension in the last ten minutes but I didn’t feel like we were going to concede at the end.

“I’m happy about the win, the clean sheet and the day.”

The only downside was that Danny Ward looks set to miss the final two matches at Preston and at home to Derby due to the hamstring injury that forced him off. Ajayi also has a hamstring problem.

Warne also reiterated that he would like to keep goal scorer Adeyemi  for next season, the midfielder having netted seven times on loan from Cardiff.