Rotherham United boss Paul Warne responds in his Advertiser column to Kieran Sadlier's leaving comments

His comments are covered elsewhere in these Millers pages.

Some of his frustration while he was with us revolved around him not being played in his favoured positions.

We signed Kieran to play on the wing but then we changed formation and played wing-backs rather than wingers. He made it clear he didn’t want to play as a wing-back; he didn’t see how that helped him.

I couldn’t offer him much game-time as an attacking midfielder instead simply because he wasn’t better than the three lads already playing centrally.

In the summer there was interest from Bolton but they didn’t want to pay a fee, so why would we let a talented player walk out?

I said this to Kieran at the time: ‘You tell me who I can sign for your wages who is as good as you and we can do the deal.’

In the end, it got sorted last month. The arrival of Georgie Kelly in the January transfer window gave us another attacking player so the club allowed Kieran to leave.

His predicament wasn’t unique. A lot of players don’t get the game-time they want. You just can’t keep them all happy. Eventually, they feel it’s better for them to leave for a different opportunity. You can keep them but then you’ve got ‘hostages’, which you don’t want.

A lot of the stuff he did when he played for us was really good. He just felt he wanted to play somewhere else. I never had a fall-out with him and his attitude was always spot on.

I’ve texted him after each Bolton game he’s played in. He’s come on as a substitute there and he might force his way into the team. They have good attacking options.

Kieran goes to Bolton with our blessing. Good on him, I hope it works out for him.

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THE Rotherham United midfielder had spent all night running and now he was about to run some more.

Ollie Rathbone was in the media room at the Eco-Power Stadium to discuss the Millers’ 5-0 demolition of Doncaster Rovers last week.

The problem was, his teammates were all on the bus keen to make the short journey back down the M18 and weren’t best pleased at being kept waiting.

“Make it fast can you, lads?” he grinned. “Or I’ll be in big trouble.”

Rovers had been blown away by the visitors’ strength, power and conditioning and soon he was talking about one of the reasons behind the Millers’ rise to the summit of League One.

“Our regime is relentless,” he said. “There are no days off, no light days. The fitness department deserve a lot of praise. The training is hard, lots of intensity. There’s no head tennis.”

Rathbone spent five years with Rochdale before Rotherham came calling in the summer and isn’t used to being in pole position.

“I don’t know if it’s a psychological boost or not,” he said. “I’ve not got much experience of it in my career so far!

“I don’t really look at the table. I didn’t do it at Rochdale and I don’t do it now. I just focus on the game coming up and trying to get a win.

“I’m just pleased that things have gone well since I joined.”

So well, in fact, that the 25-year-old is a first-choice pick alongside Ben Wiles and Dan Barlaser in a midfield three considered by many as the best in the division.

Between now and the end of the campaign, the former Manchester United trainee has only one target.

“Promotion would mean a lot to me,” he said. “I’ve worked really hard for the last ten years and I’ve always wanted to play at as high a level as I can.

“I’ve never played in the Championship but I hope to do so next year.”

With that, he was gone, dashing out of the room at the same pace he’d covered the turf in another lung-busting shift.

Table-topping Ollie had a bus to catch.