Matt Hamshaw's wish for stayaway Rotherham United fans to make a return

Some supporters became conspicuous by their absence as the Millers struggled in League One during December and much of January to slide down the table.

But six fresh faces, coupled with a run of three unbeaten matches, has lifted the mood around S60 and Hamshaw is banking on a fuller house for Saturday's visit of leaders Cardiff City.

“I've said all along how powerful a good atmosphere is and how important the fans are,” said the boss who has been a follower of the club himself since boyhood.

“I understand the frustrations. I feel exactly the same as them, It is disappointing when you walk out and you see empty seats, but I can't force people to come down to the stadium.

“I want them to come down, I want them to get back behind the players. I remember the impact that they had at the back end of last season (after his March appointment) when we had a near-on full stadium every home game.”

Rotherham brought in teenage Leeds United hot-shot Harry Gray and centre-half Emmanuel Adegboyega earlier in the window and then strikers Duncan Watmore and Gabriele Biancheri, wing-back Lino Sousa and full-back/midfielder Brandon Cover came through the door in a deadline-day flurry on Monday.

“I'd like to think that, with the renewed optimism generated by this window and the recent results that we've had, people will come down,” Hamshaw said. “When the fans get right behind the lads, it makes a difference. The lads feel that and carry it into their performances.”

The Millers are without injured quartet Dan Gore, Denzel Hall, Josh Benson and Jordan Hugill for the Bluebirds clash but will still have far more options than they're used to after the January incomings and the emptying of their previously-packed treatment room.

Rotherham were well beaten, 3-0, in South Wales in the very early stages of the 2025/26 campaign and Hamshaw is calling on his squad to give a better account of themselves this time around.

“Cardiff, for me, are the best team in the division,” he said. “I think that they're the only side who have really dominated us this season.

“It's a tough test, but it's one that I feel we're in a much better frame for. We're looking forward to it.”

The Millers are in their second consecutive year in the third tier after always climbing straight out of it in the last decade when Hamshaw was a coach under Paul Warne.

Hamshaw cited the example of Sheffield United and Sunderland, who got stuck at the level for several years, as he stressed that promotions in League One are hard to come by.

This term, a push away from the drop zone into a mid-table position would suffice until the boss has a chance in the summer to shed some of the players he inherited and to continue his rebuilding with more signings of his choice.

“The club has had huge success in this division,” he said. “Whenever Rotherham United are in this division, it feels like - due to the success that we had when we were here before - they should just automatically get out of it.

“A lot of big clubs have come down and stayed in this division. Promotion is not a ‘gimme’.”