Millers urged to ‘meet the challenge setback*

Leam Richardson, the manager of ROTHERHAM UNITED, has urged his struggling team to “meet the challenge” of avoiding relegation head-on.

His remarks come after another Championship setback, this time a 2-0 home loss to promotion-chasing Southampton.

With 17 games left, the Millers are now stuck at the bottom of the standings, 12 points from safety.

Jan Bednarek and Adam Armstrong’s goals in the first half lifted the Saints back above Leeds United and into second place in the standings.

Southampton’s winning streak of 23 games was also increased by the outcome at the AESSEAL New York Stadium.

“Southampton exceeded our expectations,” Millers head coach Richardson said. They are a talented team that is performing admirably. We were aware of the difficulties we would encounter.

The manner we began the game was the only thing that disappointed me. The second half was more like us, albeit without many big opportunities.

With just one victory since October, Richardson is aware that he needs to keep motivating his team.

“We either meet the challenges or we feel sorry for ourselves and do nothing about it,” he continued.

We want a competitive environment, so we should never be content with a 2-0 loss to Southampton.