Rotherham United manager Steve Evans believes Birmingham City are the ‘best ever’ League One side after his team were brushed aside by the Blues yesterday afternoon.
The two clubs both suffered relegation from the Championship last season but have begun life in the third tier in contrasting fashion. For Birmingham, their opening day draw with Reading is the only blemish on an otherwise perfect start whereas Rotherham have recorded just one win from their first seven fixtures.
St Andrew’s took centre stage on Monday night in what was a pulsating clash with Wrexham. The manner of their 3-1 win impressed many and laid down a marker to the rest of the division. As a result, they headed to South Yorkshire yesterday as heavy favourites to pick up another three points.
It didn’t take long for Birmingham to flex their muscles. Tomoki Iwata handed the away side the lead shortly before the quarter-hour mark and it looked as if a drubbing could be on the cards eight minutes later when Jay Stansfield doubled the advantage. However, the Millers settled into the game and kept the score down to two, despite the visitor’s dominance throughout.
Following the game, Evans was unsurprised by the result and admitted that Rotherham’s season won’t be defined by a defeat against League One’s ‘best ever’ team:
“They’re the best League One team I’ve ever seen with the way they pass and they move,” he said, via Birmingham Live. “They are a terrific side full of good young players.
“We have absolutely no excuses. We couldn’t touch them. They were much better than us. I thought we were poor in spells but started well. Their goal was against the run of play.
“We changed it at half-time and were more disciplined. We were well beat. I am not going to make any excuses. Our season will not be defined by a defeat by Birmingham. We’ve learned lots of lessons. We will regroup and get ready for the next games.”
Rotherham are next in action next Saturday when they take on Shrewsbury Town at the Croud Meadow before travelling to struggling Cambridge United at the beginning of October.
Writer’s View
It’s unusual to see Steve Evans so complimentary about an opposition, especially following a defeat. However, everyone knows that Birmingham are levels above in this division and many will head into clashes with them viewing the tie as somewhat of a free hit.
Evans will be pleased that he has gotten this tie out of the way early on, especially after suffering such a poor start to the season. Their next two fixtures are away from home, but they are against the bottom two teams in the league and are both winnable. Supporters will expect two victories and it will be interesting to see what the reaction is if they fail to pick up at least four points.
Head of Writing
