David Artell says that he will continue to encourage his players to play out from the back and that he will never criticise them for trying to do the right thing. Despite Rotherham’s energy levels to implement a high press against us, the Alex still tried to beat that press and create opportunities for ourselves in what proved to be a thrilling Papa John’s Trophy tie at Mornflake Stadium.
Rotherham ran away with the tie in the final quarter of the game to eventually win 4-2 and although the Millers were worthy of their victory, they knew they had been in a contest.
Artell explained to the club’s official website: “I’ve said before that I won’t shout at them or criticise them if they try to do the right thing and pass the ball. If they are trying to do what we want and it sometimes doesn’t come off or a mistake results in a goal then I have to take responsibility for that because that is what I am asking them do.
“We want to play and try and beat the press. Rotherham are a front foot team and they want to get after you and they did. We created our own problems at times but we also broke their press on numerous occasions and were 4v4. We didn’t make the most of those opportunities when we did and that is an area we have to work on.
He added: “It isn’t just about goal kicks, it is about the defensive third and what we want to create further up the pitch. We can be better at it of course, but we also had some great positions that we didn’t punish because of taking that risk. It is risk and reward with it and we need to punish teams better when we do create those types of situations.”