The Richard Wood Column: The Rotherham United captain takes you on an away day with the Millers

Being injured kills me. Happily, I’m well on the road to recovery after damaging my hamstring in the FA Cup win at Maidenhead earlier this month.

Hopefully I’m only a week or two away from being declared fit. That day can’t come quickly enough!

I haven’t travelled to our last two away matches because an injured player is a bit like a spare part in professional football when there’s a game on.

Fair play to the lads, that was one hell of a comeback at MK Dons last weekend, while it sounds like we were unlucky to lose at Portsmouth on Tuesday.

On the subject of away matches, I thought I’d share with you how the Millers lads build up to a Saturday game away from AESSEAL New York Stadium. Most of the time, these will involve a stay in a hotel the night before.

We train first on Friday morning, have lunch at our Roundwood training base and then we have an hour or so to meet down at the stadium to get the coach.

A few lads like to go to Nando’s to get something there to eat on the journey while a few might go to Marks & Spencer to get some snacks or whatever.

We have a card school at the back of the bus. There are two tables. There’s me and Joe Mattock, and Ben Wiles has joined us this year. We’ve taken him under our wing. We try to get someone else in to make a four.

The other table is Dan Barlaser, Michael Smith, Michael Ihiekwe and Matt Crooks.

We play all kinds of different games: nominations, trumps, rummy. I’ve also got a dice game called Perudo. That’s really good. We’ve played the Monopoly card game a few times. We mix it up.

I don’t mind the travelling at all. In fact, I like it. When you’re at the back of the bus, it’s not like being in a car. You’re not crammed in.

There’s a coffee machine but the coffee from it isn’t great so I buy one before we set off. If it’s a long journey, we stop at the services on the way there. The gaffer lets us get off and get a coffee. Whoever is losing at cards goes and buys them.

Once we’re at the hotel, we get our room keys. The food is always around 6.30pm. You can do what you want between getting there and meal time.

You just get settled in your room with your roommate. The hotel always has a pool and the lads can use it whenever they want. Some use it to just stand in and stretch off after the journey.

I used to go in the pool a lot but not so much these days. I don’t feel as if I need to. If I’m feeling tight or stiff, I go in then. The kitman always brings shorts for us to use. He gets a message on the group chat if any player needs a pair.

Physio and treatment is available as some players like to get a rub the night before a game. The physios give you a time that the physio room is open before or after the meal.

Sometimes we have a meeting led by the gaffer and assistant manager Richie Barker. We normally have a couple of meetings at the training ground two days before a game but, particularly if there’s been a midweek match, we might do one of the meetings at the hotel.

The gaffer and Richie are very thorough in what they do. They test us on it, which is good because it means everyone knows what’s required of them.

After the evening meal, that’s it. From 7.30pm you can do what you want to do. Some of the lads sit around and have a chat. A lot of the time we sit down and watch the Friday-night TV game together.

Some of the lads prefer just to relax in their room. I’m still rooming with Joe. It’s good. We’ve stopped watching box-sets now. Some lads take their PlayStations. I know Wilesy takes his. Joe goes and plays FIFA or C.o.D. with him sometimes and leaves me on my own for a bit.

I usually get the laptop out and catch up on things to do with my business. Lights out for me is around 10.30/11pm. Joe might stay up later and the TV will be going but I just roll over and go to sleep.

I’ve always been a good sleeper the night before games. I used to sleep-walk a bit but I’ve not had any issues with that for a while now.

On the morning of the game, breakfast is optional. I always get up for breakfast these days. I used to lie in until 10.30/11am but I’ve changed my routine.

I’ve learned over the years not to be superstitious. A lot of footballers are obsessed with following certain routines and it affects them if things change.

I’m not like that. I just roll with it. I used to have to have a certain meal. I still prefer to have it but it doesn’t worry me if it just so happens that I can’t.

Joe and I get up at around 8.30am and go down for breakfast. I have porridge, fruit and three or four cups of coffee.

Everyone has to be downstairs for a team walk at 11.15am.

Pre-match is 11.30am. If I can, I’ll have poached egg, toast and beans. We get sweet-potato wedges now as well. There are all kinds of different things.

I don’t eat a lot at breakfast — just a small bowl of porridge to see me through until 11.30am.

We go back to our rooms and then we have a meeting just before we set off for the ground. The gaffer speaks about something and then Richie will recap the past couple of meetings and go over set-pieces and things like that.

We get to the ground around 90 minutes before kick-off, I have a look at the pitch then go back to the changing room and have a read of the programme.

As captain, I have to be in the referee’s room an hour and a quarter before kick-off to meet the ref and hand over the teamsheet. Our coach, Matt Hamshaw, will give me a shout when it’s time to do that.

I’m not wound up at this stage. I’ve never been the kind of guy who gets wound up too early. I’m quite relaxed.

Forty minutes before kick-off, I’m out for the warm-up, so I make sure I’ve got all my strappings and kit sorted before then.

I’ll have another caffeine hit when I get back to the dressing room. It’s a special concoction that head of player performance Ross Burbeary makes up. It’s a sports energy drink.

I have any tablets that I might need — pain-killers, or whatever — to get me through then out I go. The ‘game head’ comes on during the warm-up.

I’m fairly relaxed right up to kick-off. I wasn’t always like that. When I was younger, I used to get nervous and my stomach used to hurt. That was a good sign because it meant I was ready to play.

Now, because I’ve played so many games, I’m quite relaxed but I can switch my mind on very easily. I’ve been told by a lot of people that I’m very quick to focus. Once I’m standing in the tunnel, my mind is on nothing but the game. Total concentration.

As captain, I do the huddle before the game. The gaffer will have said a lot and Richie and the staff will have had their say.

If I think there is anything I can say that will influence the lads I will say it in the huddle. I wouldn’t repeat what the gaffer has already said. I’ll just say what I feel at that moment.

In the Coventry City home game, for example, the gaffer’s message was about shape and him wanting us to press. I just told the lads in the huddle to encourage each other and to show good body language.

I didn’t want it to be just me encouraging someone if they made a good tackle. I wanted everyone to get behind each other.

I felt it had been a bit flat at Bristol Rovers in the game the week before. I wanted us to look sharp and ‘at it’ even if it was just a goal-kick. It worked because we won 4-0!

I try to make it a different message for every game but it’s generally on a ‘get stuck in, press, high energy’ theme.

After a game, if we’ve won, there isn’t much to say. The gaffer will congratulate everybody. If there’s a loss, he has a lot more to say. There is a bit of an inquisition about it.

I try to not say too much at that time. A lot can be said in the heat of the moment. I’d rather reflect on what’s happened and give my input on Monday morning when everyone is calmer.