Wise words from Alex Bruce in dressing-room talk ... reflections on Rotherham United 3 Salford City 3

Tucked away deep in the recesses of AESSEAL New York Stadium is a little interview room.

I stood there alone late on Saturday afternoon, waiting for the presence of boss Alex Bruce after a roller coaster of a 3-3 draw between Rotherham United and Salford City.

Suddenly, I realised I could hear his words already. It turned out that home dressing room was adjacent to my solitary abode, so I did a bit of eavesdropping as the head coach delivered his debrief following a match that the Millers should have won.

It was measured, compelling, smooth and right on the money.

The Millers aren't quite any of those things yet, but they're getting there.

Letting a 3-2 advantage slip brought disappointment. Fighting back from going 2-0 behind in the first half and dominating one of League Two's promotion favourites for a long spell brought encouragement and optimism.

"I thought that for the first 20/30 minutes we were poor," said Bruce once he'd bade farewell to his players and was talking on the record to me and a couple of other journalists who'd joined the gathering.

"We were passive, we just jogged around. The intensity of our press wasn't there. We gave the opposition far too much respect. I said to the players at half-time: "It wasn't until you went two goals down that you decided to start playing."

"When we did that, we looked a good team. I thought we thoroughly deserved to get the equaliser, and then we went ahead. The attitude of the players was excellent. One thing I will say about them is, they don't give up. That's a good trait to have.

"A lot of teams would have sulked and let their heads go down. I was pleased with the reaction. Not to hold on for the three points was really disappointing."

This new-look side, this young, aspiring group, has characteristics that were painfully lacking in Millers outfits of the past three years.

They played a famous Human League song at New York and you could almost hear Bruce humming along.

'I picked you out, I shook you up, and turned you around ...'

So, Rotherham's lack-lustre start against the club whom he used to coach - even allowing for the fact that City have spent more heavily on recruitment than anyone else in the division - was a surprise.

Ryan Graydon's close-range finish from Luke Molyneux's cross gave Salford a ninth-minute lead and they extended it with a goal so stunning that even some home fans applauded.

Joe Powell spent two seasons as a Miller and never netted a league goal at New York. Now, he needed just 31 minutes of his return to put the 'pow' in his surname with a 30-yard strike that would have graced the Premier League.

"Sometimes you've got to hold your hands up," Bruce said. "The second one was a beauty, wasn't it? He deserved the clap that he got. I still think we could have gone out to the ball and closed it down quicker. That was a reflection on the game until we started getting up to them, putting a tackle in and keeping the ball better."

Suddenly, Rotherham turned up.

Within two minutes, Josh Austerfield made ground down the right, played a couple of short passes and Brandon Cover's first-time sweep reduced the arrears.

Two minutes after that, Ossama Ashley's quick feet drew a foul from Will Aimson and there was only one outcome when Paul Mullin stepped up to take the penalty.

Eleven minutes into the second half, Ashley took aim from outside the area and a slight deflection made sure the ball flashed beyond City goalkeeper Will Norris.

Bruce's men were light on their feet, heavy on their commitment and they opened up Salford several more times without managing to add to their lead.

The visitors' hopes took an even bigger dive than the one performed by Abraham Odoh that was designed to con the referee into a penalty decision but succeeded only in earning him a second yellow card and reducing his team to 10 men.

Salford barely had an attacking kick in the second half. Unfortunately, one of their few was from the penalty spot and brought an equaliser despatched by Macaulay Langstaff.

Substitute Jili Buyabu tugged needlessly at a City shirt in a flash of crass, juvenile defending in the 74th minute. Former England right-back Gary Neville, watching from the South Stand as part of the Ammies' ownership group, wouldn't have approved.

Neither did Bruce. "A moment of stupidity," he said through pursed lips.

Already this season, the Millers have grabbed last-gasp goals against Chesterfield and Tranmere Rovers. They went for it once more, cheered on by an approving crowd, and in stoppage time a heavy touch from Buyabu prevented him making amends for his earlier error while Emmanuel Adegboyega's shot from an angle was kept out by Norris

"The one thing I want to try to create is a team that never gives up, a team that goes all the way to the end," Bruce said. "We showed that that's what we're trying to work towards. The lads kept going until the very end again. I hope the supporters can see that and appreciate that."

The result left Rotherham in 16th place, unbeaten in the league at home this term and with their boss backing his side to accelerate their upward trajectory.

"We've had three tough games - York, Chesterfield and Salford have come here," he said. "We've seen today what we're capable of against one of the teams that I think will be up there and right in the mix at the end of the season.

"When we start playing with more consistency to our game, when we cut out these silly mistakes, hopefully we'll be up there as well."

Anyway, back to that debrief … it came in a private setting, so it would be wrong to reveal much detail.

But a particular Bruce phrase did stand out, one that's being echoed by fans cautiously re-energised after three years of misery.

"Lots to like".

Rotherham (3-5-2): Julian Eyestone; Denzel Hall, Sonny Aljofree, Kieran Ngwenya (Emmanuel Adegboyega 78); Aaron Nemane (Jili Buyabu 66), Josh Austerfield, Ossama Ashley (Jayce Fitzgerald 78), Brandon Cover, Ewan Otoo; Paul Mullin (Tom Bradshaw 66), Fabio Tavares (George Sebine 59). Subs not used: Ted Cann, Klaidi Lolos.

Salford (3-2-4-1): Will Norris; Will Aimson, Ade Oluwo, Taylor Allen; Brendan Wiredu (Elliott Bonds 78), Joe Powell (Jorge Grant 78); Luke Molyneux (Oliver Turton 88), Kallum Cesay (Dan Scarr 88), Ryan Graydon (Kelly N'Mai 59), Abraham Odoh; Macauley Langstaff. Subs not used: Lee Burge, Dan Udoh.