Matt Taylor on the state of his Rotherham United squad as they head to Swansea City

MANAGER Matt Taylor has revealed the physical toll the push for Championship survival is taking on his Rotherham United squad.

The 20th-placed Millers are up against Swansea City in South Wales tomorrow night when they will be looking to put more distance between themselves and the drop zone.

Taylor, whose side were 2-1 victors over Sunderland last Tuesday, says the five-point gap they have managed to open up has come at a cost.

"There are a few players who are just playing and not even training," he said at a Friday press conference. "I've never seen them as tired as they were yesterday.

"I don't think that was down to just the Sunderland game, it was down to the run of games we've had. They were robotic, to say the least. They were a stiff group!

The players had Friday off and then trained yesterday and today before travelling to Swansea for an overnight stay.

Rotherham will be without centre-half Grant Hall, who is due to see a specialist about his latest hamstring injury, but hope midfielder Ollie Rathbone and right-back Lee Peltier will have recovered from groin and hamstring niggles respectively.

The Millers were handed a boost yesterday when the four teams below them and the four immediately above them all lost.

Rotherham had been due to face the Swans at the same time but the fixture has been put back so it can be shown live on Sky Sports TV.

Taylor appreciates supporters' frustration over the switch but likes the fact that the Millers, who have done well in Sky matches in recent years, will be on television.

"It's a shame for the fans," he said. "Monday is a working day and a long journey. But I always feel it's good for the profile of the club to be on live TV.

A lot of people will be tuning in even though Coronation Street and EastEnders will also be on on the same night. It's good that our fans can watch it if they can't get down there in person.

"We have no control over the fixture list. Would I have preferred a Saturday fixture? Normally, the answer would be 'yes' but on the back of Tuesday (the concern over Rathbone and Peltier plus the strain on his side) probably not.

"I think we will be a stronger team for the game being on Monday. We've enjoyed playing on TV this season. We've had some good results. We need to start well, which generally we have done recently. It's a winnable match."

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ROTHERHAM United have a day to kill at their hotel in South Wales before tomorrow's 8pm kick-off against Swansea City.

Manager Matt Taylor revealed how the squad will spend the day until they leave for the Swansea.com Stadium.

"The players occupy themselves largely," he said. "We make sure we feed them and we give them the opportunity to use gym and pool facilities and have access to physios.

"They've got the opportunity to lie in bed for most of the day, which is something they wouldn't do if we were playing at home on a Tuesday night.

"We encourage stretching and walks and them keeping themselves active. They're quite a social group. They spend time with each other playing cards or computer games. They're of a generation where a lot of them play online games.

"My message to them is: 'Come the start of the game, we have to be right, we have to be ready.'"