Grateful Rotherham United boss Steve Evans makes frank admission about the sack

The Millers head to Burton Albion this weekend in high spirits after an unbeaten start to 2025 that has seen them leave their early-season struggles behind them.

They are only a single point away from the top half of the table and one more win could see them jump into the top 10.

It's a far cry from a couple of months ago when the manager was feeling the pressure of a poor run that had left his side close to the relegation places.

“I was very, very fortunate at one stage that (chairman) Tony Stewart and his son, Richard (vice-chairman), stood shoulder to shoulder with me and kept believing like I did,” Evans said.

“They weren't shy in telling me that it had to turn.”

A win at drop-zone Burton would give Rotherham three successive league victories for the first time in the 2024/25 campaign.

“We understand that there's a lot of making up to do after a poor start to the season,” Evans said. “We've taken ourselves to a place where we can look at the top half. We're looking for the top 10, to be honest.

“If we can get into the top 10 and be five or six points off the play-offs as we go into early February, we can give it a go.”

The manager says he never lost faith in the Millers coming good after 14 summer signings marked the beginning of his second stint in charge at AESSEAL New York Stadium.

“I believe,” he said. “The minute I don't believe, I might as well say to Tony Stewart: ‘Someone else can take the job.’

“Even in the dark days when people doubted the dressing room, I retained that belief.

“I also had to have a realism and say that what we were producing earlier in the season was far short of what the standard should be at this club.”

The Millers have hit top form in recent weeks, deploying a new 4-1-3-2 formation that has tightened their defence and transformed their attacking threat

A New Year's Day win at Lincoln City was followed by a draw at high-flying Huddersfield Town.

Then came a triumph over Bolton Wanderers, progress in the Vertu Trophy at the expense of Chesterfield and last Saturday's crushing of Charlton Athletic.

“Since we went to Lincoln and were totally dominant, we haven't looked back,” Evans said.

“We went to Huddersfield and should have won. We had the two biggest chances in the game.

“To beat Bolton and Charlton in consecutive league matches is a really tough thing to do.”