Meet the opposition | Rotherham United

As Swansea City host Rotherham United at the Swansea.com Stadium, we take a closer look at the Millers.

What’s their story?

Established in 1925 after the merger of disbanded teams Rotherham County and Rotherham Town, Rotherham United are back in the Championship after a third promotion to the second tier in the last five seasons.

Rotherham’s highest league finish came in the 1954-55 season, when they finished third in Division Two, narrowly missing out on promotion by goal difference.

The Millers are newly-promoted to the Championship after securing automatic promotion, finishing second behind Wigan in League One last term. They will hope to avoid suffering immediate relegation; a fate that has befallen them at the end of their previous two campaigns in the second tier.

Rotherham are also the current Football League Trophy holders. They came from behind in April to beat Sutton United 4-2 after extra-time at Wembley.

How’s their form?

The Millers had a strong start to the season, but have not been able to maintain that form since the departure of Paul Warne to Derby.

They have recorded three wins since the start of November, and have slipped down towards the relegation zone as a result, although one of those victories came last time out against play-off contenders Sunderland.

They have also won just twice away from home all season.

Who’s the gaffer?

Matt Taylor. The 41-year-old former centre-half has been in charge of Rotherham since taking the reins in October following the departure of long-term boss Paul Warne to Derby County.

As a player, Taylor was best known for a four-year spell with Exeter City, and played alongside Matt Gill in the Grecians team that secured promotion back to the EFL.

He went on to have spells with Charlton, Bradford, Colchester, Cheltenham, Newport and Bath City before hanging up his boots.

Taylor returned to Exeter as manager in 2018, taking over from Paul Tisdale, and enjoyed an excellent four-year stint at the helm.

He led them to promotion to League One in 2021, and they had made a promising start to this term when Rotherham were granted permission to speak to him over a move to the AESSEAL New York Stadium.

Who’s the captain?

Veteran centre-back Richard Wood is a commanding and experienced presence in Rotherham’s defence and has been club captain for a number of years.

After joining the club in 2014, Wood has racked up over 200 appearances for the Millers scoring 14 goals, after initially starting his career at Yorkshire neighbours Sheffield Wednesday.

Midfielder Oliver Rathbone has recently had the armband, with Wood not having featured since the middle of January.

Who are they key men?

Chiedozie Ogbene is the top scorer for the Millers this season, having netted seven goals and set up a further two.

The Nigerian-born Republic of Ireland international has been with Rotherham since joining from Brentford in 2019, and has 12 goals in 124 appearances in that time.

After his family relocated to Ireland in 2005, he started his career with Cork City and Limerick before joining the Bees in January 2018.

He made six league appearances for the London club ahead of moving to Rotherham. He has won 13 caps for the Republic of Ireland since making his debut in 2021.

Goalkeeper Viktor Johansson has been an integral figure for the Millers since his arrival in 2020.

Having come through the Hammarby and Aston Villa academies, Johansson also had a spell with Leicester City.

He kept 27 clean sheets for Rotherham during their promotion campaign last term, and has continued to excel this season.

Midfielder Oliver Rathbone – son of former Birmingham, Blackburn and Preston defender Mick Rathbone – started his career with Manchester United’s academy.

After being released at Old Trafford he joined League One Rochdale in 2016, making 183 appearances over the following five seasons.

He joined Rotherham in the summer of 2021 and made 52 appearances in all competitions as the Millers secured promotion and won the EFL Trophy.

Rathbone has made the step up to the Championship and contributed five goals and an assist so far this term.