"It was the battle we were expecting" ... relieved boss Paul Warne on Rotherham United's FA Cup triumph

The League-One-topping Millers, now undefeated in 18 matches, were braced for a battle at AESSEAL New York Stadium against in-form visitors two divisions below them and that's exactly what they got.

Michael Smith's 15th goal of the season, scored close to half-time, was just enough to see off a County side who sit eighth in the National League and were roared on by a vociferous sold-out away following

"It was the game we expected," Warne said. "We knew it was going to be tough. Fair play to Stockport and all their fans, I thought they made it a real cup night.

"We didn't play at our fluid best but how much is that down to us and how much is it down to the opposition? They didn't let us play at our best.

"Their wing-backs played really well to neutralise ours. We didn't get enough crosses into the box, we didn't win enough second balls in midfield.

"You can see what I thought of the game when I'm bringing on Joe Mattock as a wing-back and changing my sitting midfielder to Hakeem Odoffin because I felt like we were hanging on in the last few minutes."

County had arrived unbeaten in their last six outings and had chances to score but Rotherham, who will find out their third-round opposition in Monday night's draw, held out to triumph 1-0 and record yet another clean sheet.

"I thought we defended pretty well," added Warne following his 250th match in charge.

The boss has given his squad the weekend off and they will reconvene on Monday, the day before the league visit of Steve Evans' Gillingham.