, Rotherham United loan winger to Northampton Town – other exits unlikely

Rotherham United loan winger to Northampton Town – other exits unlikely

Rotherham United have loaned winger Mickel Miller to League One side Northampton Town for the rest of the season, but manager Paul Warne has indicated that there are unlikely to be many other outgoing moves in January.

The Championship strugglers confirmed today that 25-year-old Miller has been sent on loan for the rest of the season, having only made nine appearances since signing for the club from Hamilton Academical last summer.

Boss Warne said it was a decision that made sense for all parties with the player struggling for first-team opportunities, a problem he put down partly to their change of system in late November.

The introduction of a 5-3-2 presented no obvious place in the side for a wide forward like Miller, and he made just two substitute appearances following the change, being sent off in one of those against Brentford.

READ: Rotherham United duo set for long-awaited returns v Derby County – striker a doubt

Now Miller, whose contract runs until the summer of 2022, has moved to Keith Curle’s Northampton, who are in a relegation scrap themselves in the division below.

Warne told Rotherham’s official club website on the move: “He is definitely part of the plans, but I do understand that he needs to play games, so it was a no-brainer.”

The Millers boss then went on to reveal the honest conversation that the pair had last month about the current situation with the player downbeat at his lack of playing time.

“I saw him down in the dumps in training,” Warne explained. “About three weeks ago I pulled him into my office and had a good chat with him, saying that he just needed to keep his levels high in training because he is a very good trainer.

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“I could see from his face that a little bit of his spark had gone, as in, he just felt like he wasn’t going to get on the pitch, which is totally understandable.

“He came to see me and asked me if something did come up when the window opened, that I did think was suitable for him, would I consider it – which is the nicest way to ask a manager. I said of course.”

While sanctioning the move for Miller, Warne has also suggested that there are unlikely to be many other outgoings from the squad in this transfer window.

Business has been slow across the Championship and the Rotherham boss has previously spoken of his frustration at the difficulties in this particular window of bringing players into the club.

In his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to fellow relegation-battlers Derby County, Warne hinted that he needed to keep together the small squad at his disposal because of the demands of this condensed campaign.

“I’m not saying it won’t speed up, but at the moment everyone is keeping their cards very close to their chests,” he said of transfer activity.

“The 25-man squad rule has limited what you can and can’t do, we don’t want anyone outside our squad who isn’t available to play. There is a lot more to this window than there has been to previous ones, that is for sure.”

Miller’s departure, combined with the return of Curtis Tilt from his loan spell at Wigan Athletic, leaves the club with precisely 25 senior players.

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