Steve Evans eyeing Leeds United 'repeat' as he bids to end Rotherham United road drought
STEVE Evans is taking inspiration from his time as boss of Leeds United as he seeks to end a drought stretching back 22 months for Rotherham United.
The Scot moved to Elland Road as head coach in October 2015 and soon got the West Yorkshire giants winning again on their own territory.
Now he wants to perform a similar feat as manager of the Millers, only on the club's travels.
Rotherham head to Charlton Athletic on Saturday without a victory on the road since they toppled Sheffield United at Bramall Lane nearly two years ago.
“Let's be honest, it's time we won an away game,” said Evans, a month into his first full season following his return to the Millers helm.
“I went to Leeds who hadn't won at home in more than seven months and sorted that quickly. We haven't won away since November 2022. We've got to sort that.”
Rotherham will need to be at their best to topple opponents who have won three of their opening four League One matches.
“We'll freshen the boys up during the week and make a very difficult journey to Charlton,” Evans said.
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One to watch
Midfielder Conor Coventry has started all five matches for Charlton this season. The former West Ham United prospect helped Rotherham stay in the Championship in the 2022/23 campaign, playing 16 times after arriving on loan in January. The 24-year-old signed for the Addicks for an undisclosed fee in January and made 17 appearances in League One last term.
Form guide
Charlton: WLWWL
Millers: WDWLLW
After a 2-0 home win over Bolton Wanderers, the Addicks lost in the league for the first time, 2-0 at Reading, last Saturday.
Past meetings
Apr 9 2022, League One: Millers 0 Charlton 1
Nov 2 2021, League One: Charlton 1 Millers 1
Mickel Miller
Apr 2 2018, Charlton 3 Millers 1
Richard Wood
Aug 16 2017, League One: Millers 0 Charlton 2
Jan 30 2016, Championship: Millers 1 Charlton 4
Chris Burke
Sep 12 2015, Championship: Charlton 1 Millers 1
Opposition boss
Nathan Jones turned down the chance to become Rotherham boss last season before accepting the Charlton hot-seat in February. The 51-year-old’s best work as a boss has been done in two spells at Luton Town while stints with Stoke City and Southampton didn't work out. He led the Hatters to League Two promotion in 2018 and then took them to the Championship play-offs in 2022.
Man in the middle
Simon Mather refereed his first EFL match in 2021, after several seasons in the National League, and has been in Leagues One and Two ever since. The Lancashire official was in charge at New York Stadium in February 2022 when the Millers beat Morecambe 2-0 as they closed in on promotion to the Championship. This season, his three games have seen him issue eight cautions and send off one player.
The odds
The home side are 7/5 to win while a Millers victory is 9/7. A draw is 11/5. Each club have 14 wins in 38 contests between them since 1958.