Rotherham United are staying up. Here's what it means to Millers boss Matt Taylor

Manager Matt Taylor knows what it means to the Millers.

“What has been before for this club makes this moment sweeter," said the man who took the hot-seat in October.

Rotherham secured their safety with a 1-0 win over promotion contenders Middlesbrough at a packed, bouncing AESSEAL New York Stadium this afternoon and Taylor was quick to reward his players.

"I won’t be seeing them for the next couple of days,” he grinned.

Hakeem Odoffin struck from 20 yards just after the break to see off Boro, who had been reduced to ten men on the stroke of half-time by the dismissal of Anfernee Dijksteel for a foul on Jordan Hugill, to leave Rotherham five points clear of third-bottom Reading with only one match left to play.

The Millers have been plagued by injuries throughout their campaign but have managed to stay up for the first time since 2016.

“There is one thing running through this club and that is spirit," Taylor said. "Even had it gone down to the final game of the season I would have been confident.

"We are going to be better equipped next season. This is a big achievement for the club. Forty-nine points is a good tally considering what has been thrown at us this year.

“It was one moment of quality from Hakeem and time stood still before the ball hit the back of the net."

Boro will finish fourth and will fight for a Premier League berth in the play-offs.

Their head coach, Michael Carrick, said: “I have mixed feelings. I am disappointed that we lost the game because that is definitely not what we came here to do. There are things to learn from it.

“I thought the first half, for large parts, suited Rotherham and not us. It was a bit stop-start and set-plays. There was not a lot of football played. 

“The sending-off changes the game. It was a little bit harder to create that chance after then, but I thought the boys did a lot of good things."

As for Taylor, he was already on the beer when he came into the New York media suite for his after-match press conference!

A bottle of San Miguel for him. So much bottle shown by his players.