Rotherham United v Sheffield Wednesday: Millers have 'nothing to lose' warns Owls chief Danny Rohl

The Millers, with just three league wins this term and without a victory in 11 matches in all competitions since Boxing Day, are 13 points adrift of second-from-bottom Wednesday and effectively 17 points from safety.

With 12 matches left in 2023-24, Rotherham’s survival mission looks doomed, but a win over the Owls - and a first home league success in front of Millers fans against their rivals since March 1976 - would provide one crumb of consolation amid a forgettable season.

Rohl said: “We face an opponent who maybe has nothing to lose and will go ‘all in’ and fight for every duel to create something and will want to bring energy from the stands to the pitch.

"I think it will be a special atmosphere for them. For us, it is about having a clear mindset. We showed at Millwall, also a difficult place, what we can do."

Rohl’s counterpart Leam Richardson has won just once in his 14 league games at the helm so far, but recent performances have shown the intensity which the Owls chief has referred to.

Richardson commented: "We want to win 99.9 per cent of those duels and make sure we are as controlled and aggressive as we can be in certain areas. It’s up to us to impose our game in terms of what we want to do.

"You have got to make certain people (players) aware of it who may not have been here for a long time or may be not from around the area or played in a derby before and make sure they understand what it means.”

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Rohl has good memories against the Millers, with a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture on October 29 being his first as head coach as Wednesday secured their first league win of 23-24 at the 14th time of asking.

Progress since has been very impressive and while Rohl believes his side are ‘in a good situation’, the position is still ‘serious.’

He continued: “When I look back and we were 13 points back from the line (safety - in late November), I said we have to come closer and closer and three points is very close. It’s still not over the line.“We know the situation is still serious and it goes very quickly in this league in the other direction. But at the moment, we are going in the right direction.”