The Sky Blues travel to the New York Stadium to play Rotherham United on Thursday night. Here’s everything you need to know about our opponents.

Fact File

Name: Rotherham United

Founded: 1925

Stadium: New York Stadium (first opened 2012)

Capacity: 12,021

Nickname: The Millers

Address: New York Stadium, New York Way, Rotherham, S60 1AH

Pitch Size: 112 x 72 yards

The Opposition

Rotherham are currently 22^nd in the Sky Bet Championship table three points away from safety with eight matches left to play.

The Millers top scorer is Michael Smith who has scored 10 goals this season whilst also providing three assists with Freddie Ladapo and Matt Crooks just behind Smith in the scoring charts with nine and seven goals respectively.

The Yorkshire club have lost eight of their last 11 league matches and claimed a crucial win against Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night.

Manager

Paul Warne was appointed as Rotherham manager in April 2017, having been in caretaker charge of the club for the majority of the 2016/17 campaign.

The 47-year-old spent eight years with the club as a player across two spells, making over 250 league appearances, before taking up a coaching role with the Millers following his retirement from football in May 2012.

He took over as caretaker manager in November 2016, but couldn’t keep the club in the Championship, with Rotherham finishing with the lowest points tally ever recorded by a second-tier side since three points for a win was introduced.

Warne was appointed permanent manager after the club’s relegation to League One was confirmed and led Rotherham straight back to the Championship in 2017/18, beating Shrewsbury Town after extra-time in the play-off final at Wembley.

However, Warne would suffer his second relegation as a manager the following season, finishing four points from safety, returning to the third-tier at the first attempt.

The club returned to the Championship, finishing as runners-up to the Sky Blues at the end of the curtailed 2019/20 season, handing Warne his second promotion as a manager.

With Rotherham, Warne has managed 216 matches recording 74 wins, 44 draws and 98 defeats.

Last Six Games

Won – Rotherham 3-1 QPR (Sky Bet Championship)

Drew – Huddersfield 0-0 Rotherham (Sky Bet Championship)

Lost – Rotherham 0-3 Wycombe (Sky Bet Championship)

Lost – Millwall 1-0 Rotherham (Sky Bet Championship)

Won – Bristol City 0-2 Rotherham (Sky Bet Championship)

Lost – Rotherham 1-4 Watford (Sky Bet Championship)

Last Time We Met

The two sides last met earlier this season when the Sky Blues secured a comfortable 3-1 win against the Millers at St Andrew’s.

City raced into the lead after just five minutes when Tyler Walker superbly chested the ball into the path of Max Biamou who raced in on goal and finished well past the onrushing Jamal Blackman.

The Sky Blues doubled their lead on 12 minutes when Biamou made a nuisance of himself in the penalty area allowing Callum O’Hare to shoot only to see his effort saved onto the post and bounce out to Walker who clinically finished into an empty net.

Mark Robins side almost added a third goal when Liam Kelly’s outside of the foot cross from the left was met by Biamou who attempted an overhead kick from six-yards out with his effort coming back off the left-hand post.

City extended their lead on 72 minutes when Gus Hamer’s floated delivery was powerfully met by Leo Ostigard at the back post whose downwards header was turned into his own net by Michael Smith.

The visitors won a late penalty on 85 minutes when Ben Wilson was adjudged to have fouled Kyle Vassell with Daniel Barlaser converting the resulting spot kick, but it was too little too late for the Millers as City closed out the game to secure a well-deserved victory.

Head-to-Head Record

Sky Blues Wins – 12

Draws – 7

Rotherham Wins – 8

Club Connections

Ryan Giles

Former Sky Blues wing-back Ryan Giles has had separate loan spells with both clubs this season.

Giles came through the academy at Wolverhampton Wanderers and has made one appearance for the first-team in the FA Cup.

He was loaned to hometown club AFC Telford United in 2017/18, scoring two goals in nine appearances for the National League North side before joining Shrewsbury Town on loan ahead of the 2018/19 season.

The 21-year-old made 25 appearances for the Shrews scoring once before linking up with the Sky Blues for the second half of the campaign where he made one appearance before the curtailment of the season as City were crowned League One champions.

He returned to the club on loan for the 2020/21 season and made 21 appearances for the Sky Blues before being recalled by Wolves in January this year.

Giles was sent back out on loan to Rotherham later that same month, scoring on his debut against Middlesbrough, and has made 16 appearances for the Millers scoring twice.

Jonson Clarke-Harris

Current Peterborough United striker Jonson Clarke-Harris came through the Sky Blues academy before spending four seasons with Rotherham and then returning to City for a second spell with the club.

Clarke-Harris became the club’s youngest ever player at the age of 16 years and 20 days old when he came on as a substitute in a League Cup tie in August 2010.

He made just one appearance for the club before signing for Peterborough in July 2012 and spent time on loan at Southend United and Bury before joining Oldham Athletic without making a single appearance for the Posh.

The striker spent just over one season with the Latics before joining Rotherham where he scored 10 goals in 79 appearances across four seasons with the Millers.

He was loaned out on three occasions during his time at the New York Stadium enjoying short spells with Milton Keynes Dons and Doncaster Rovers before re-joining the Sky Blues on loan in January 2018.

The 27-year-old helped City earn promotion via the League Two play-offs during his loan spell, coming on as a substitute in the final against Exeter City, before making the move permanent at the end of the season having scored four goals in 21 appearances.

He scored a further six goals in 29 appearances the following season before departing for Bristol Rovers in January 2019 where he enjoyed an excellent spell netting 27 goals in just 49 appearances.

That form earned him a move back to Peterborough in August 2020 where he has continued to impress having scored 27 goals so far this season, topping the League One goalscoring charts, and has fired the Posh into title contenders.

Match Officials

Jarred Gillett will be the man in the middle on Thursday night, taking charge of his 28^th game of the 2020/21 season.

He last refereed the Sky Blues in February this year when City were beaten 2-0 by league leaders Norwich City at St Andrew’s.

This will be Gillett’s third season as a Football League referee and he has officiated the Sky Blues on three previous occasions, with City drawing one and losing two of those matches.

So far, Gillett has awarded 85 yellow cards and two red cards across 27 matches in the Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One and Carabao Cup.

He will be assisted by Paul Hodskinson and Philip Dermott with Darren Bond acting as fourth official.