He's back! First game for Rotherham United's Andre Green

The attacker has been out since October 2024 after rupturing his Achilles tendon only ten games into his Millers career.

However, he finally returned to full training last week and his next step towards a League One outing was set to come in a behind-closed-doors Wednesday friendly against Doncaster Rovers at the Eco-Power Stadium.

Boss Steve Evans outlined the plan for the 26-year-old who played in the Premier League for Aston Villa and in the Champions League with Slovan Bratislava.

The boss said: “Andre Green will play the last half an hour.”

Green emerged from the youth ranks at Villa and broke into their senior set-up before moves to Championship sides Preston North End and Sheffield Wednesday and then a two-year stint with perennial Slovakian champions Bratislava.

He was signed during the reign of Matt Taylor and has never been at the disposal of Rotherham's present manager who took the hot-seat in April.

The player can't wait to hone his sharpness and knows that run-outs like Wednesday's are just what he needs to stake his claim for a first-team shirt.

“Match fitness is a completely different story," he said. “You can train as much as you want and do as much fitness stuff as you want, but it's not the same as match fitness.

Evans describes Green as “a wonderful talent” and anticipates the player being ready for third-tier action by the time the festive schedule comes around.

“Not only is he a talented boy, he's a wonderful kid," the boss said. “I've discovered that in the one-on-one chats I've had with him.

“I was ribbing him the other morning. He bent a ball towards the net and I said: ‘The last time I saw you do something like that was coming on for Aston Villa in the 2019 Championship Play-off Final.’

“Andre said: ‘Yeah, I was on the pitch for less than ten minutes and the other team scored!’

The match Evans was referring to saw Villa claim a place in the top flight at the expense of Derby County.

Green, who suffered a severe setback midway through his rehabilitation when he re-tore his damaged tendon, thanked the Millers' medical staff for their care and reserved special praise for his loved ones.

“It's important to have the right people around you when you're out injured for so long: people who can keep you away from football,” he said. “You don't want to be sitting around at home just thinking about what's happened to you. My family have really done well for me.”

Some of the Millers players trained at Roundwood yesterday while those selected for the Rovers game headed up the M18 for a 1.30pm kick-off.

Joe Rafferty was among the travelling party, along with Cameron Humphreys, Cohen Bramall, Jack Holmes, Alex MacDonald, Chris Tiehi, Jordan Hugill and Jake Hull.