Brave Millers bow out

ROTHERHAM United chief Andy Scott hailed his players after a brave defeat to neighbours Sheffield United in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy last night.

The second-round tie was just moments away from going to penalties when Ched Evans struck the winner deep into six minutes of stoppage time to make it 2-1 for the visitors from League One.

It killed off a brave challenge from the Millers, who had cancelled out Chris Porter's early strike with a 69th minute equaliser from Alex Revell.

Despite their faltering league form, they played their best football in weeks and forced the Blades, backed by a travelling contingent of more than 4,000 supporters at Don Valley Stadium, into defending for long periods.

Scott said: "We can take a hell of a lot of positives from it. We were terrific against a very strong side who have a great chance of getting to the final.

"We had organisation, energy and we passed it well. There some fantastic performances in there and the result should not detract from that."

One down side for Scott was that Mark Bradley, recalled at centre-half, dislocated his shoulder in the second half and is set to be out for three to four months.

The Millers resume their league campaign at home to Burton Albion on Saturday.