Rotherham United boss Paul Warne has told the Yorkshire Post that he hopes the club can keep hold of star striker Michael Smith before the transfer window closes tomorrow. 

The 29-year-old striker is said to be of interest to Cardiff City at present, with the Millers being determined to hold onto the frontman after the impact that he has made both last season and in the current one.

Originally born in Wallsend, Smith notched up an impressive 10 goals in all competitions last term, whilst he also has three already this season, thus underlining his importance to what the team are trying to achieve at the New York Stadium.

Now Warne has admitted that he hopes his player stays put in Yorkshire, as he stated the following on the situation recently:

"Smudge's goals aren't where he stops. He works hard for the team.

"I know there were a lot of scouts watching Donny's players and some of ours. However, they're still our contracted players. It would need a pretty phenomenal offer to turn the chairman's head."

Smith's current contract with the Sky Bet League One promotion hopefuls expires next summer, which means that they could be forced to cash in on his services in order to avoid losing him on a free next year.

The frontman has hit just shy of 40 goals for the club since joining from Bury back in 2018.

The Verdict 

Cardiff have arguably left it too late in the window to move for Smith and it now seems highly unlikely that the Millers will allow him to leave at this time.

He is crucial to their chances of getting promotion and it may well be the case that they will be looking to cash in on him during the January window.

For now he appears set to stay put and he will be wanting to score goals regularly in order to keep a host of clubs interested in his services.

Warne knows how key Smith is to his plans and for that reason he will be turning out in a red shirt for a little while longer at least.