Jili Buyabu doesn't board team coach following Rotherham United red card

Rotherham United travelled back from their defeat at Swindon Town last weekend without Jili Buyabu on the team bus.

The attacker had been sent off in the fourth minute of a 2-1 League Two loss at Swindon Town and took a different route to his teammates after the match.

"He left and went home with his family because his family are down south," boss Alex Bruce told the Advertiser.

Relatives of Buyabu were in the crowd at the County Ground when he received a straight red card for elbowing Town midfielder Jack Thomson in the face.

When asked if it had been pre-arranged for the Sheffield United loanee to skip the return journey to South Yorkshire, Bruce replied: "It might have been planned. I'm not sure.

"He had family at the game so he went with them, probably because he felt like he'd let a lot of people down, which he had."

The player was ordered to stay away from the Millers' Roundwood training base and expressed his sorrow for his actions when he linked up with the squad again on Thursday.

"He apologised to the players and he came and apologised to me and my staff as well," Bruce said. I'm not saying it's done and it's under the carpet, because it's not something I want to see. I want to see a reaction from him in terms of making me see that I can trust him on the field. He needs to work hard."

Bruce was fuming at Buyabu's indiscipline which has resulted in a three-match ban that starts with tomorrow's FA Cup first-round tie at Bromley.

The head coach is prepared to give th 23-year-old a second chance but says he won't select him again unless he sees clear signs that the player is determined to mend his ways.

"Jili's been told what he needs to do to get back in my thoughts," he said. "So let's see if he goes and does it."

The cup clash pits Bruce against his old boss, Karl Robinson, after the latter's appointment to League One Bromley's hot-seat this week. The pair were together at Salford City for two years and reached the fourth-tier play-off final with the Ammies last season.

Bruce is calling on his team to put their league struggles to one side and launch an all-out assault in their quest for a first victory in 11 matches.

"We've had scouting reports from previous Bromley games," he said. "Now they have a new manager, it's time for the laptops to go away, to be honest, because we don't know how Karl's going to set up.

"He might put in a new formation, new personnel. We'll know that when we get the team sheet on Saturday. Sometimes, that's something that you can quite enjoy.

"You can go a little bit old school and go: 'Right, it's a cup tie, it's 11 men v 11 men, let's go and have it with them.'"