'You could have probably charged anything for those tickets ...' Rotherham United manager Paul Warne looks forward to Parkgate v Millers and finally playing in front of fans again

Covid restrictions are still in place so only 800 tickets were made available for Saturday’s clash at Roundwood Sports Complex that both clubs use as their base.

They were all snapped up online within hours of going on sale late last week.

“It’s really nice, after the year we’ve had, that the fans can come in and see us close up,” said manager Paul Warne, who hopes to give game-time to all of his fit players.

“Supporters have yet to meet the signings we made last season. They haven’t seen the likes of Viktor (Johansson), Sads (Kieran Sadlier) or Wes (Harding) play live.”

The last time Millers followers were allowed inside a stadium was at Rochdale on March 7 2020 when Rotherham were closing in on League One promotion.

Parkgate tickets were £9 and Warne said: “You could have probably charged anything for those tickets and they’d have still gone.

“I hope the weather is good. Hopefully we stay injury-free and everyone enjoys the day.”

The fixture has become an annual event over the years and is one the Rotherham boss always looks forward to.

“It will be good,” he said. “It’s a bit like the Juventus way. Juventus always play on a little village pitch at the start of every year.

“They’ve played the same game for about 100 years. The kids watching get every piece of kit off the players that they can.

“Our relationship with Parkgate is really good and I love Albert Dudill, the chairman there.

“It’s a good tradition we’ve had going for quite a few years now.

“It’s always our first game and it’s always played in the right manner. No-one’s going around smacking each other or anything crazy like that.”

Young striker Josh Kayode, looking to earn a first-team spot after a season-long loan at Carlisle United, said: “It will be good to have some fans back in and just to get out there playing again with this team.

“It will be good to get some minutes into my legs. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a tough pre-season so the more minutes you get early on the better.”

Kick-off is 1pm.