He’s back, he’s scored … but there’s a Boxing Day issue over Rotherham United’s Sam Nombe
ROTHERHAM United are set to hold back the striker who manager Matt Hamshaw rates as the most dangerous in League One in a bid to protect their star man from further injury troubles.
Sam Nombe made a scoring return as a 59th-minute substitute in yesterday's clash with Huddersfield Town after six weeks out with a quad problem.
However, the record signing is unlikely to start the Boxing Day match at Bolton Wanderers, even though the Millers are desperate for points after losing their last three matches.
Keeping Nombe fit and available is vital to Rotherham's cause and the 27-year-old could be on the bench again as he is eased back into action.
“It's frustrating – I can give him only 25 minutes/half an hour at the minute,” Hamshaw said. “We're going to have to build him back slowly because he's such an integral part of this team. Any time Sam is on the pitch, we're a different animal.”
Nombe missed two months of the campaign, between August and October, with a torn hamstring and many observers feel that the 18th-placed Millers would be challenging for the top six had he been in the team all season.
The hitman has averaged more than a goal every two matches since the late-March arrival of Hamshaw who is a huge admirer of the player who became the club's first seven-figure signing when he moved from Exeter City in the summer of 2023.
”He's the best striker in the league,” Hamshaw said. “I've said it all along. We've missed him. You've only got to look at the stats. I know how important he is.”
Before the 3-1 loss against Huddersfield, data showed that the Millers had averaged around two points per game with Nombe in the squad and only around half a point without him.
Hamshaw was angry at his side's poor display against the Terriers and said that supporters who had booed at AESSEAL New York Stadium were justified in venting their feelings.
However, he believed that Rotherham should have been in front before the visitors' first goal when Denzel Hall converted Joe Powell's early corner at the back post only for the effort to be ruled out by referee Matthew Russell for a perceived Jordan Hugill foul on Ryan Ledson.
It's not the first time this term that the manager has had to choose his words carefully after a decision has gone against his team.
“We're here again, aren't we?” he said. “All I'll say is that I've just spoken to two of Huddersfield's players and they said there was nothing wrong with it. I'm not going to comment on it further.”