Rotherham have yo-yoed for four seasons, now it’s time to snip the string and stay up

Rotherham United have been a strong example of a so-called ‘yo-yo side’ over the past handful of seasons. A club that has bounced up and down between the Championship and League One are now facing another realistic possibility of dropping down to the division below after just one season in the second tier.

Promoted from League One last term, Paul Warne’s side currently occupy the final relegation spot going into their 31st Championship game of the season against Reading on Saturday, two points behind 21st-placed Birmingham City.

The Millers will be enthused, however, by their two games in hand on the West Midlands side which give them an opportunity to form a gap between themselves and the bottom three should both encounters be won.

The South Yorkshire club haven’t enjoyed consecutive Championship campaigns since 2017 when the 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons were all spent in the second tier. Since then, two relegations and two promotions under Warne have followed.

The 47-year-old former Rotherham player will of course be keen to put an end to that run and oversee survival from relegation to League One for the first time in five years.

2021 has so far been a year of mixed fortunes for The Millers. Two wins over Derby County, who themselves have flirted with the possibility of relegation, was a major boost to their survival hopes as was an impressive 3-0 victory at Middlesbrough and a 2-1 win away at Preston.

However, they currently find themselves in the midst of a four-game losing run with Cardiff, Bournemouth, Norwich and Nottingham Forest all taking maximum points in the last two-and-a-half-weeks. Paul Warne’s side haven’t suffered five defeats in a row for almost four years.

This slump has seen them drop back into the dreaded relegation zone, although with 16 games to go and two points off of safety it’s hardly the end of the world…yet.

The likes of joint-top-scorers Matt Crooks and Michael Smith have impressed with seven goals each to their names and will be vital not only on Saturday but for the remainder of the season if Rotherham are to stay up.

Focusing on the short-term, Warne and his players should certainly smell blood and an opportunity for three points against a Reading team who have lost four of their last five games.

The Royals suffered a 1-0 defeat away at lowly Wycombe last time out, despite the hosts having ten men for the final 25 minutes of the encounter. Their recent drop in form has formed a major dent on their play off hopes, with Veljko Paunovic’s side now just two points clear of seventh-placed Bournemouth.

Despite their poor run, they still boast one of the Championship’s deadliest marksmen amongst their ranks in Lucas João with the Portuguese scoring 20 league goals so far this term.

Both sides will see the game on Saturday at the AESSEAL New York Stadium as a decent opportunity to add a vital three points to their inventories to support their respective ambitions for the season, which couldn’t be much more contrastingly different.

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