Rotherham United manager Paul Warne has suggested that the Millers’ result against Luton Town on Tuesday will have kept Sheffield Wednesday believing they can survive ahead of their clash with Derby County.
The final day of the campaign is shaping up to be one of the most intense survival battles in the Championship for many years. Rotherham missed the chance to put it back into their hands with them being held to a goalless draw at Luton on Tuesday. However, the Millers now know that they can survive if they beat Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday hold Derby to a draw.
At the moment, Derby hold the advantage of knowing that a win keeps them up without any other results mattering. However, they face a Sheffield Wednesday side who know they simply have to win and then hope Rotherham’s result also goes their way. That is going to make it a very interesting and nervous final day for all three clubs.
Speaking to Rotherham’s official website following their draw at Luton, Warne suggested that Sheffield Wednesday will now be feeling they are in with a chance of survival against Derby and that it could give them an edge in that game.
He said: “We were always going to have to win at least one game. We’ve taken away a point. If Wednesday and Derby manage a draw and we manage a win, then we give ourselves a chance. Wednesday now think if they win, they will think they can get out of it. That will give them an edge – not that they wouldn’t have had one already.
“There are all of these connotations, but we just have to go [to Cardiff] and win. We can’t control the uncontrollable and we can’t affect what’s happening elsewhere.
“Saturday just matters about us working out a way to try and beat Cardiff."
The verdict
Warne is right that Rotherham’s result against Luton on Tuesday will have kept Sheffield Wednesday having belief they can still survive. That could potentially be very beneficial for the Millers because they will want the Owls’ clash against Derby to be very edgy and have both teams cancelling each other out.
A draw in that game is a brilliant result for the Millers, while even if Sheffield Wednesday win the game, Rotherham will still survive if they then beat Cardiff. Derby are the team at the moment with everything to lose given they have it in their hands, but Wayne Rooney’s side could well feel the pressure now with Wednesday still very much in it.
The final day will come down to which of the sides involved can handle the intense pressure the best. For Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday things are simpler in the sense that they know that just have to win and hope something else goes for them. Whereas for Derby there will be a lot of potential permutations that could impact whether they just need one point or all three.