Rotherham United manager Paul Warne has called Sunderland "a great club" ahead of their midweek League One Clash clash at the Stadium of Light tonight.
The second-placed Millers travel up north to take on a Sunderland side who sit fourth in the table following some strong performances of late. A win for the Black Cats would go a long way in helping them to secure a spot in the League One play-offs while a win for Rotherham would all but guarantee automatic promotion back to the Championship given their superior goal difference over third placed MK Dons.
And ahead of tonight's match between two of League One's top sides, Rotherham boss Paul Warne admitted he is relishing the prospect of going up against Sunderland with so much on the line.
"As a player, I’d be thinking ‘brilliant’, playing against a great club, with both teams wanting to win," Warne told Rotherham's club media. "These are the games you want to play in. We go into it in reasonable form and we just have to try and compete.
"From my point of view it’s an honour to manage a team in that stadium and we want the lads to go out and express themselves and hopefully come away with a win. I don’t want the lads to feel like it’s a ‘must win’, it’s a game they should enjoy playing in. If we were to come away with a win, it would mean MK would have to win and we’d have to have a bad goal-swing against Gillingham.”
Last time the two sides faced off back in October, Rotherham dismantled a haphazard Sunderland side 5-1 in a game that saw the Black Cats thoroughly outclassed. With just two games left of the League One campaign, Sunderland know that two wins from two should see them secure a spot in the play-offs, giving them a chance to earn promotion to the Championship.
And Warne acknowledged that Sunderland, under Alex Neil's stewardship, will be a tough outfit to beat on Tuesday night.
“They’ve done really well and Alex is a great manager, too," added Warne. "He’s really well experienced and at a club that won’t phase him. He’s got a team that wants to win and the fans are right behind him. Winning seven games out of 10 in any league is some going.
“They’ve got confidence and goals in their team and they will be full of confidence. It’ll be a tough game, but – respectfully – I feel like Alex will be thinking the same about us.”
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