Likes and dislikes for Lee Clark in Rotherham United's last home match
NEW boss Lee Clark hailed the improvement in his Rotherham United side as they signed off at AESSEAL New York Stadium for the season with a League One point this afternoon.
The 53-year-old arrived too late to save the Millers from relegation but has found reason for encouragement in recent games after the drop to the fourth tier was confirmed earlier this month.
Today, in their final home match of the campaign, they drew 1-1 with 10th-placed Reading and could have taken all three points.
Clark has been in charge for fixtures and he said: “I think we looked inventive, we looked brave on the ball. I like to see bravery in the final third - people trying to make slide-rule passes, players trying to take on their opponent.
“We did with the goal and on a few more occasions. It just wasn't to be. We probably deserved more than one goal.
“At least we're making some good opportunities now. When we first came through the door, there were a couple of games where you thought: ‘We're not really making chances, never mind scoring.’
“It's been improving with each game. I think the belief of the players has been a thing as well - they're believing in themselves a lot more now.”
Rotherham were the best team in the opening period and led through Sam Nombe's well-taken goal but were then pegged back only 89 seconds after the interval when Daniel Kyerewaa finished off a slick move by slotting the ball beyond goalkeeper Ted Cann.
“It was a really good first half,” said Clark who takes his team to Wycombe Wanderers next Saturday for a last-day clash. “We created some terrific opportunities.
”We scored a great goal - a good pass from Dan (Gore) and a great finish from Sam. We could have had a couple more.
“Then, in the second half for a 15-minute spell at the start, we got a bit sloppy. We let them score a goal that we didn't like. It wasn't particularly nice.
“Reading really had us pushed pushed back. We were loose, we looked a little bit tired. Then the lads came back into it and started making chances again and playing on the front foot.
“We had some good opportunities to go on and win the game. There were some really good, positive bits of play, things that we've worked on.”
The boss was relatively content with a draw, although he stressed that the Millers weren't far away from a victory, with Emmanuel Adegboya hitting the bar with a second-half header from Cohen Lee's cross.
Clark had to make make substitutions as a pair of his men coming back from injury began to tire.
“We had two players whose minutes were limited in Denzel (Hall) and Dru (Yearwood),” he said. “We could play them only for an hour. They did terrific work in that time, but you could see them starting to fatigue a bit, so we had to get them off. We couldn't risk them re-injuring themselves.”
Reading are managed by former Millers head coach Leam Richardson who was making a first return to New York since his April 2024 dismissal.
“I felt the scoreline reflected the game,” he said. "We were poor first half and their goal is poor. We had a couple of big moments where we have got to be better.
“With all the injuries we’ve got, we are trying to compete and represent ourselves until the end of the season. I thought that in the second half we were much better and our goal is as good a goal as you will see.”