Artell on facing another of his former clubs in knockout tie.
David Artell admits that a knockout draw against Rotherham United is arguably the toughest draw we could have got in the northern section of the draw unless we were facing Paul Warne’s side at their own New York Stadium!
Whatever team Warne elects to select for tonight’s Papa John’s Trophy tie, they will be a strong outfit.
The Millers currently top the League One table ahead of Wigan and Sunderland and have an FA Cup 3rd round tie away to Championship side Queens Park Rangers to look forward to at the weekend as well.
Artell, who won promotion twice with his hometown club as a youngster, expects a tough encounter against a ‘top end League One Side’ who were unfortunate to exit the Championship last season under Covid conditions.
Ahead of tonight’s intriguing tie at the Mornflake Stadium, the boss said: “It is the hardest draw we could have got unless we had been drawn away at Rotherham. It is a hard test we know that but also a good one to test our players. They have stepped up against Wigan and a strong Doncaster Rovers side on the night, so the challenge is there.
“We know Rotherham are a top side at our level. They are a team of men and they will be strong and physical and make things difficult because they have good players. They are top end League One players and were a Championship team last season.
“We had a good result at their place because we managed to play really well for the last 20 minutes. We need to play as well as we did in those last 20 minutes but for long periods and hopefully score more than the one goal we managed late on there.
Artell added: “We have to play well for larger spells and defend well when we need to. The important thing is that we get back to looking something like we are before Saturday.”