Rotherham United manager Matt Hamshaw addresses the possibility of the sack after derby defeat

The manager was speaking in the aftermath of today's 2-1 home derby loss at the hands of Doncaster Rovers that kept his side in 23rd spot. He had spoken in the build-up to the clash about chairman Tony Stewart being supportive.

As he reflected on a game that saw the Millers take the lead and then throw away the chance of victory with two needless individual errors, he said: “I'll be here until I'm told otherwise, trying to get us out of this mess.”

His men took an early lead at AESSEAL New York Stadium when Sam Nombe converted a penalty awarded when Jay McGrath pulled back Duncan Watmore by the shoulder.

But captain Joe Rafferty then over-committed himself and failed to make a tackle on Glenn Middleton who set up Brandon Hanlan for an equaliser after the break before goalkeeper Cameron Dawson messed up a routine clearance to gift Luke Molyneux a winner.

“Individual moments cost us in that second half,” said Hamshaw. “It was two moments of madness. There wasn't a lot in the game.

“I thought our first half was really good. We got an early penalty and it's questionable whether their player could have been sent off. When you watch it back ,you might think that.

“We got the goal, and the first half was everything that I want at this club. You're judged by moments in games. We fell short in two moments in that second half and lost the derby.”

The defeat brought an end to an amazing 41-year Rotherham run of 13 wins and one draw from 14 contests on home turf against Rovers who won the reverse fixture 1-0 in August.

“We've lost to Doncaster twice this season and I'm not happy about it,” Hamshaw said. “I was equally as happy when we went to Barnsley and won.”

Rovers boss Grant McCann said of a fifth win in nine third-tier outings for his team: “The fans have got the bragging rights now and it’s nice to win the game.

“In the first half, we were so, so poor and lethargic. We did not pick up second balls. It looked like I'd picked 11 individuals and told them to play for themselves.

The manager, who made three interval substitutions, added: “If I could have made 10 changes at half-time, I would have done. I gave seven of them the benefit of the doubt and the three that came on made a real impact on the game and that is what we needed.

“We did not play it like a derby game, we played it like a pre-season game and got what we deserved. “It doesn’t help when you concede after a couple of minutes. We showed no fight, and it’s probably the angriest I have been since I’ve been at the club.

“The boys came out in the second half and deserve a huge amount of credit for how they turned it around.”