The after-match fans' anger fuelling Matt Hamshaw's Rotherham United derby desire

A month ago, the Millers boss went over to the away end at the One Call Stadium to acknowledge travelling supporters following a last-gasp 2-1 loss and felt the force of their displeasure.

This weekend, Hamshaw would love a different reaction as the visitors try to ended their 55-year wait for a victory on Tykes soil and is banking on the extra motivation of a derby clash to bring out the best in his League One side.

“You pull up to the ground and there's an excitement that's different to a regular league game,” he said. “There'll be a good following from Rotherham in that away end, and they need to be loud. They need to make a difference, and I'm sure they will.

“The fans have stood behind the team all season, even when we've not had great results. I think they've seen what we're trying to do, I think they've seen the culture that we're trying to embed.

“I can remember standing and clapping them at the end of the Mansfield game and some were a bit not happy with me, which I understand. I remember, thinking: ‘I get it, you've spent your money, you've travelled here, you want your team to win, and we haven't delivered.’

“It means the world to me that they support and follow the team, and it means the world to me when we get results and put smiles on their faces.”

The Millers won for the first time on their travels earlier this month, at Northampton Town, and a second away victory in succession could push them higher than their present 18th place and close to a mid-table position.

The match pits Hamshaw against Conor Hourihane, the man who has guided Barnsley to tenth spot in his first job as a boss. The former was a coach at Derby County when the latter was a player there and the pair are friends.

“I really like Conor,” Hamshaw said. “I think he's brought calmness and steadied the ship a little bit. They're probably a little bit like us – in a transitional phase. I have so much respect for him. But I want to beat him Saturday.

“He was doing his coaching badges while we had him at Derby. He'd sit with us as a group of staff, and with myself on set-pieces because he was my set-piece-taker. We'd sit down, go through routines, go through bits and bobs that we could see.

“He's a rounded fella, he's been a captain, he's bright in terms of coaching and seeing things. He kind of managed a lot of situations (in the dressing room) for us at times at Derby.

“He's had an amazing career, and I'm sure that the future will bring good things for him in coaching. He's switched on, he's diligent. The thing I like about Conor - that I like about all ex-pros who do it - is that he came outside of the first-team bubble to earn his stripes.

“He worked in and around Derby's academy and he'd worked in and around Aston Villa's academy when he was there. He went across to Barnsley, which wasn't easy. I know he lives in Birmingham. He's travelling across to Barnsley and doing the hard yards.”

Rotherham haven't tasted victory at Oakwell since 1970 but the Millers manager is heading there undeterred.

“I love a derby,” he said. "I like everything it brings with it. I think form goes out of the window, I think league positions go out of the window.

“We've seen it so many times in so many games. It doesn't matter if you're a favourite, it doesn't matter if you're an underdog, it doesn't matter what people say.”