Cohen Bramall, potato wedges and Rotherham United's Championship survival battle

The wing-back who had just bagged the goal that had brought Rotherham United three Boxing Day points in their bid to escape the Championship drop zone needed to replenish his reserves.

Christmas is a busy time for footballers. The match against Middlesbrough had been the club's second in four days and two more were to follow in the next six. Replacing calories burned in the Millers' cause was a key part of the recovery process.

Despite their first victory in 12 outings, Rotherham were still bottom of the second-tier rankings, but that wasn't something Bramall would be checking out.

“We've just got to keep believing and focusing on ourselves,” he said. “That's the main thing. The trick is to not look at the table. Let other people talk about that.”

The two-month run without a victory had been a drain on confidence, he admitted, but a new boss in Leam Richardson had brought new optimism.

“When you're not winning it's about having a strong mentality and keeping as positive as possible,” he said.

“You've already seen the new head coach do little bits and bobs. I think you'll see more of us playing and being more positive on the ball.

“Leam's doing a cracking job with the lads. We just need to push on from here. You can see the influence of him.”

The Millers take a break from their league schedule this week and face Fulham in the FA Cup before second-tier hostilities resume on January 13 against Stoke City.

Pace ace Bramall has been one of the successes of the campaign and has taken to his new wing-back role after being used mainly as a full-back earlier in the season.

His goal against Boro - a mishit cross that flew over keeper Tom Glover into the roof of the net and only his second in Millers colours - had come from an attacking position on the left flank after he'd been played into space by Ollie Rathbone's pass.

“I do enjoy the position because I can help the team get up the pitch,” he said.

Beating the Teessiders had lifted spirits but Rotherham still remained a long way from exiting the bottom three and every pundit's tip to fall short of repeating last season's second-tier safety success.

“It adds fuel to the fire when people write us off,” the scorer said. “It gives us that extra boost. They wrote us off last year. Then we did really well to stay up. There's more than 20 games to play. I am 100 per cent confident that we can do it again.”

He'd been so busy chatting that he'd forgotten to eat.

He departed with his wedges still intact, a dab of red sauce on the side. He'd have them shortly. A man with the appetite for a survival fight.