Why Steve Evans never worried that Rotherham United's trip to Charlton Athletic would be called off

The match is one of only three third-tier fixtures to survive and pits two of the pre-season promotion favourites against each other.

Evans was given advance notice that the game wasn't in danger even though the Addicks were set to have three players called up for international duty and could have insisted on a postponement.

“It's no secret that I'm best friends with the chief executive at Charlton (Charlie Methven),” he said. “I heard three weeks ago that the game would be on.

“Charlton had indicated at senior level to Nathan (manager Jones) that they wanted to play it. Nathan was of the same mind.”

Seventeenth-placed Rotherham are seeking to build on last weekend's home triumph over high-flying Huddersfield Town as they seek a first victory on their travels since November 2022.

They face a tough task against Charlton who are in the play-off zone and were described this week by Evans as “a Premier League club”.

The three Athletic players away with their countries are 19-year-old trio Karoy Anderson and Kaheim Dixon (both Jamaica) and Daniel Kanu (Sierra Leone).

In the league this season, Anderson has made one start and two substitute appearances, Dixon hasn't featured at all and Kanu has twice come off the bench.

“I'm not knocking those players, but they were never in a million years going to start against us,” Evans said. “They haven't been in the team.

“We're looking forward to it. We've done our homework on Charlton and we've done some work on the training ground towards that.

“The Valley is a great place to go and play football. The home fans are brilliant and we'll take a noisy support. We need that away win, don't we.”

The Millers travelled by coach to London this morning and were due to train this afternoon at a venue in the south.

“Charlton have had a brilliant start under a good manager,” Evans said. “He's a friend of mine, someone I regard highly.

“There's a lot of respect between both managers and both clubs. They are a Premier League club.”