Not good enough at crucial moments ... the story of Bolton Wanderers 2 Rotherham United 1

The Millers slipped to a damaging 2-1 defeat in a clash between two teams at the wrong end of the Championship table.

Despite their presents from their boss, Rotherham didn't help themselves as a disjointed second-half performance gave them little chance of a comeback against a side that hadn't won since September. 

Warne's men had needed only three minutes in the opening period to equalise through Will Vaulks after Bolton had gone ahead with Sammy Ameobi's 34th-minute shot, but the writing was on the wall when Wanderers retook the lead via Gary O'Neill in the 65th minute.

The result leaves Rotherham, who had switched to a 4-4-2 formation in a bid to get at their opponents, without a win since November 3 and pushed them down a place to 21st in the table.

"We had pockets of really good play but not enough of them," Warne said. "I thought we would be stronger in the second half.

"I don't think we deserved to lose. However, did we do enough to win? Maybe not.

"The effort of my players is unquestionable but we didn't make enough good decisions on the ball."

Misplaced passes and a lack of cohesion from the visitors made the Trotters' job of protecting their 2-1 advantage in the closing stages more comfortable than they might have expected.

Nineteen minutes had passed before either side mustered an effort on goal, Michael Smith firing over for the visitors from just outside the penalty area when Jamie Proctor chested Joe Newell's left-flank cross into his strike partner's path.

The game sprang to life in the 34th minute. Bolton took the lead as Ameobi shot across goal and past Marek Rodak but the Millers needed just three minutes to equalise, Vaulks heading home from a teasing Newell free-kick from the right.

Wanderers' Andrew Taylor shot wide and Marc Wilson headed over to bring an opening period lacking in quality to a close.

Joe Williams went close for Bolton in the 54th minute when only a goalline clearance from Ajayi kept out his low drive before Vaulks almost struck for a second time on the hour mark, his shot on the turn following Anthony Forde's cross forcing a good save from Ben Alnwick.

Rotherham fell behind again when they failed to deal with a cross and O'Neil kept his composure to find the back of the net.

Rodak kept the Millers in the game with a stunning save from a Josh Magennis free-kick with seven minutes to go and when Clark Robertson headed wide in the 89th minute Rotherham's last chance was gone.

"We went 4-4-2 today and came here positive," Warne added. "We're conceding goals and we have to address that. Obviously we're disappointed we haven't sent our fans home happy.

"It's one game. We go on to the next one pretty quickly. We have to pick the players up.

"In crucial moments in both boxes we weren't good enough."

Warne's Book Club weren't on the same page as each other and a big response is needed at Bristol City on Saturday to keep them from falling into the bottom three.

Defeat at the University of Bolton Stadium was never meant to be part of the survival plot.

The end.

Bolton (4-4-2): Ben Alnwick; Jason Lowe David Wheater, Mark Beevers, Andrew Taylor; Gary O'Neil, Marc Wilson, Joe Williams, Sammy Ameobi; Christian Doidge, Clayton Donaldson. Not used: Remi Matthews, Josh Vela, Craig Noone, Jack Hobbs.

Subs: Pawl Olkowski (for Taylor, 67 minutes), Josh Magennis (for Donaldson, 78), Will Buckley (for Ameobi, 90+4).

Rotherham (4-4-2): Marek Rodak; Zak Vyner, Semi Ajayi, Clark Robertson, Joe Mattock; Anthony Forde, Will Vaulks, Richie Towell, Joe Newell; Jamie Proctor, Michael Smith. Not used: Lewis Price, Richard Wood, Sean Raggett, Ryan Manning.

Subs: Ryan Williams (for Forde, 66), John Taylor (for Newell, 74), Ben Wiles (for Proctor, 83).

Goals: Amoebi 34, O'Neil 65 (Bolton); Vaulks 37 (Rotherham).

Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Lancashire).

Attendance: 15,255 (1,583).

Feature: The 12 pays of Christmas ... how Warne and his men earned their wages in 2018