The sickness, the discontent and players 'going through the motions' ... the story of Crawley Town 1 Rotherham United 0

Rotherham United manager Steve Evans was back at the club where he'd enjoyed so much success in a previous life and the Crawley Town fans were acknowledging his presence.

The chant came in the first minute of the contest and the boss duly obliged, enjoying a rare moment of lightness on a day that would turn out to be even darker than the Storm Bert clouds pumping incessant rain on to proceedings in West Sussex.

The figures were even grimmer than the weather: a fourth defeat in five League One outings; down to 18th place; “five or six” players, according to Evans, not giving their all.

The summer of hope when he arrived promising a tilt at promotion is descending into a winter of discontent.

Key men out injured has been one of the Scot's constant themes. At Broadfield Stadium, there was a new slant: key men out ill. Sickness, he said, had deprived him of a number of starters. So keen was he to emphasise this that he'd instigated a pre-match social-media message to fans.

‘Getting your excuses in early,’ some of them replied.

Evans, his face as soaked in sweat as his black tracksuit was by the never-ending deluge, afterwards emerged late from the dressing room to face questions on an afternoon when he was left searching for answers.

He was huddled in the dugout as he spoke. The elements, the mood, the prospects, they were all so bleak. Still the rain was hammering down.

“We're coming here without Mallik Wilks (injured), we're coming here without Liam Kelly (sick) and without Sam Nombe (sick),” he said, forgetting Joe Rafferty (injured or ill, it wasn't made clear).

“They're huge players for us. I cannot echo it enough.

“At the team hotel this morning, we had to send Ben Hatton home. Reece James dropped to the bench because he's ill. We were in a bit of disarray this morning. That didn't help this particular performance.

“But it's not about this particular performance, it's over a run of weeks where our performance levels are not where they should be.”

The class of 2024/25 is a shadow of the all-consuming promotion squads he built in his first coming a decade ago.

And, thus, the latest humbling came against Crawley, a club that kicked off in a relegation spot, a team so beset with their own injury issues that they named two goalkeepers on their bench, a side that had won one of its latest 19 games.

THE MATCH

Rotherham were pushing hard in Saturday's second half. A flurry of corners had caused concern in the home defence but had come to nothing and now Alex MacDonald shaped to hurl the ball long into the Crawley box.

The foul throw that followed would have been comical had it not been so tragic.

It was one of those days. Nobody wants it to be one of those seasons.

The Millers started well. They'd brought two strikers out the treatment room in Jonson Clarke-Harris and Esapa Osong and the latter was twice close to an opener in the early stages.

Hakeem Odoffin, deployed in an unfamiliar role of right wing-back, delivered a perfect cross and the rust of a six-week absence saw his teammate direct a free header too close to goalkeeper Joseph Wollacott.

Clarke-Harris shot hard and low, Wollacott saved hard and low and Rotherham, briefly, looked full of muscular danger.

But they began to play within their limits while Crawley did the opposite and stretched themselves to theirs, taking a grip on the contest with passing, movement and desire that the visitors couldn't – or wouldn't – match.

Evans damned half of his team without specifically naming names.

“The reality is that performances haven't been at the level they need to be,” he repeated. “We shouldn't be where we are, we should be winning matches.

“Several players performed really well today given the conditions. Five or six looked to me as if they were going through the motions. If you're just going through the motions, you're not going to win matches.

“This is a tough place to come to, no matter what people say about Crawley and where they are in the league. But we should be good enough to come here and win.”

The manager wasn't directing his ire at Sean Raggett or Zak Jules because he reserved praise for them. Maybe in his thinking were Cameron Humphreys, Cohen Bramall, Christ Tiehi, Hakeem Odoffin, Jordan Hugill and/or Joe Hungbo.

In the 21st minute, Bramall did little to prevent Tobias Mullarkey crossing from the right and Humphreys did even less to stop William Swan converting from close range.

Evans and number two Paul Raynor were pictures of agitation in the technical area. Still the rain was hammering down.

Just before the break, Osong did really well to shake off the attention of two opponents as he bore down on goal but, off balance, could produce only a tame effort with the outside of his boot that gave Wollacott no problems.

After the interval, a MacDonald free-kick evaded everyone and almost took the Crawley keeper by surprise at the back post but Town remained the slicker, more nimble side.

More than 500 supporters had made the long trip south and, for the third away league game in succession, there was vocal dissent among the red-and-white clan.

Evans, made sick by defeat rather than anything medical, doubled down on the illness line.

“I can't reassure the fans other than to say we're working as hard as we possibly can,” he said.

“We turn up for the team coach and Liam Kelly has been vomiting in a side-verge. Sam Nombe's been off it for three days, several players didn't train on Thursday.

“Fans will say, that's an excuse. But that's the real world, that's the facts. Whether we won, drew or lost today, we need to clear out the camp for a couple of days because there's a bad virus in it.”

Rafid Khaleel should have made the game safe for Crawley but blazed over at the back post and Gavan Holohan fired off target before the encounter drifted into added time.

Suddenly, Town’s net opened up and there was a gilt-edged opportunity for a last-gasp equaliser that would have been as welcome as it was undeserved.

Substitute Ciaran McGuckin kicked the left-hand post in despair after messing up the timing of his attempted header and seeing the ball fly agonisingly wide of the other upright.

“Crawley missed two chances, we missed three golden chances,” Evans said. “The one at the end, it's hard to accept that we missed it.”

CAM CRITICISM

Humphreys failed to appear for the second half, paying the price for his wrongdoing in Town's winner.

Evans didn't hold back in his post-match comments when asked about the substitution and for the second time this season - remember Leyton Orient? - the centre-half boarded a team bus he will have considered himself thrown under.

The dissent that had stewed and simmered at one end of the ground boiled over at the end and the manager wasn't with the players who headed over to face the wrath.

Fans trooped away for the four-hour-plus journey back. Still the rain was hammering down.

‘Evans, Evans, give us a wave.’

More and more Rotherham supporters are hoping he does. But not one of the happy kind the Crawley crowd had been asking for.

Crawley (3-2-3-2): Joseph Wollacott; Tobias Mullarkey, Joy Mukena, Charlie Barker; Jeremy Kelly, Max Anderson; Ade Adeyemo (Benjamin Tanimu 73), Panutche Camara (Gavan Holohan 79), Ronan Darcy (Rafiq Khaleel 79); Tola Showunmi (Tyreece John-Jules 64), William Swan (Jack Roles 79). Subs not used: Eddie Beach, Jasper Sheik.

Rotherham (3-5-2): Dillon Phillips; Cameron Humphreys (Christ Tiehi H-T), Sean Raggett, Zak Jules; Hakeem Odoffin, Shaun McWilliams (Jack Holmes 63), Joe Hungbo (Alex MacDonald H-T), Joe Powell, Cohen Bramall; Esapa Osong (Ciaran McGuckin 73), Jonson Clarke-Harris (Jordan Hugill 73). Subs not used: Cameron Dawson, Reece James.

Goals: Swan 21 (Crawley)

Referee: Matt Corlett (Bootle)

Attendance: 3,631