Rotherham United's Seb Revan isn't like a lot of young players ... he loves defending!

High-flying Southampton are the visitors to AESSEAL New York Stadium on Saturday and the bottom-placed Millers could be in for one of their toughest home tests of the season against arguably the best passing side in the Championship.

Fortunately, young Revan is a modern-day defender with an old-fashioned outlook. He likes to get forward but knows full well where his real priorities lie.

“I love defending,” said the 20-year-old. “I'm a left-back so the first port of call is to defend. The other stuff, the attacking runs, that comes later.

“The foundation is defending. It's always fun to attack but you have to make sure you defend because it will cost you games if you don't.

“We know that we're going to have to be defensively disciplined against Southampton, we know that we're not going to have a lot of the ball. But as long as we stay focused I think we can get a good result.”

The Saints arrive at New York on the crest of a wave, having set a new record for the club’s longest unbeaten run.

A 3-1 victory at Swansea City in their most recent league outing saw them better the old mark of 20 games set more than a century ago and they then stretched the record to 22 by drawing at Watford in the FA Cup.

Revan describes himself as a left-back but has played his best football during his loan spell from Aston Villa as a left-sided centre-half in a three-man rearguard.

He has been consistently selected there by new head coach Leam Richardson and is developing under the guidance of two of the division's most experienced backline operators in captain Sean Morrison and Lee Peltier.

“To play with two pros who've been around and know what they're talking about is amazing,” he said. “They help me on and off the pitch. They always give me advice and support. It's good to be working with them.

“I'm enjoying the new role. I'm not a natural centre-back but I'll play wherever the gaffer puts me.”

Both the Millers and Revan's parent club are happy with the player’s progress and his loan is set to continue until the end of the season.

His form has noticeably improved since Richardson's arrival in December, as has Rotherham's all-round defensive solidity.

“The gaffer's been here for a few weeks now,” Revan said. “Things are building. Every day in training we're working on what he wants, learning how he wants us to play.

“The whole team has bought into it. The way he wants us to play is suiting us. We're picking up some points and hopefully we can start turning some of these draws into wins.”