Plenty to admire from Rotherham United against Leicester City - but now comes the big Championship test

At the start of the working week so far this season, Matt Taylor has also been entitled to be a bit down in the dumps.

The Millers chief has been picking up the pieces from painful episodes, for contrasting reasons, against Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers. There was also frustration after a defeat at Sunderland.

This latest Monday debrief will analyse a tough loss to Leicester City. This time around, Taylor won't have as much to be dismayed about. He will be restless, all the same.

It may be a Bank Holiday Monday, but the Millers chief has his eye on instigating some transfer business at the start of a key week in the context of his side's fortunes.

The summer window closes on Friday night and Rotherham need reinforcements.

"It's a big week for us, we can't hide away from that fact', he said matter-of-factly after his side suffered a third league loss in four winless games at the start of 2023-24.

His side gave everything against a Leicester side who were as fortunate to leave Yorkshire with three points as they were at Huddersfield a fortnight earlier.

He is squeezing his players until the pips squeak and they are responding. It is still not enough in the hard and unforgiving Championship world and Taylor knows it after seeing his side match a promotion favourite, but lose.

The Millers are forging an identity under their driven young manager, fresh from his first pre-season in charge.

Front-foot, intense and with quality for the discerning eye and total commitment. Their efforts so far this season have merited more than a solitary point from the 12 available.

In terms of performance levels, it has been a pleasing enough start. With a huge caveat.

Taylor acknowledged: "Nothing gives you confidence more than winning games and seeing a reward for your effort. I can't ask for any more from these players. They've given everything and more.

"The results of the first four games have been the result of injuries and suspensions. I felt in control (on Saturday).

"So many times as manager I've watched us and not felt in control. I'm not saying we dominated the game by any means, but to feel comfortable about where the game was against a team like Leicester tells you how well we played. We had a threat about us.

"Can we start sustaining that for a full 100-plus minutes?"

Therein lies the problem.

Rotherham currently have six players in the treatment room. For many Championship clubs, they are first-world problems. For the Millers, as it stands, it represents a crisis and has serious ramifications.

It means that their nine-strong bench contains several players who are unproven at this level.

Most substitutions cannot be proactive ones, but merely hole-filling.

Without being great on the day, Leicester's quality count eventually wore down Rotherham, who lost club record signing and main midfield protector Christ Tiehi to cramp late on.

An honest, decent Rotherham side who need more killers.

It was actually a homegrown young Leicester player in Kasey McAteer who did the damage, with his first two senior goals for the Foxes including a late winner when he fired home nicely after Cohen Bramall's misjudgment.

Sides who drop down from the Premier League don't just have the big bucks to spend, but usually the best academy players.

Taylor continued: "We got a little bit weaker as the game went on and needed to see out a couple of defensive moments better than we did.

"They just had a little bit more off the pitch in terms of the bench and on the pitch."

As ever, seemingly, there was also controversy in a Millers fixture.

Premier League referee Simon Hooper revealed to Taylor that a combination of offside and a foul from Dexter Lembikisi resulted in Jordan Hugill's close-range goal being ruled out - after a delay and consultation with his officials.

The 'foul' looked soft. More especially as later on in the half, a block in the box from City's Jannik Vestergaard on Fred Onyedinma went unpunished.After the disallowed goal, Leicester went straight up the other end to score and apply a barrel load of salt, McAteer nodding in Kelechi Iheanacho's cross.

The Millers admirably regrouped. The merited leveller came in splendid fashion early in the second half when Onyedinma glanced home a wonderful Andre Green cross to show his aerial penchant again.

After Onyedinma's hugely unfortunate dismissal in the previous home game, this looked like being the perfect comeback story.Leicester, like Blackburn a fortnight earlier, would have the last word cruelly.

Rotherham United: Johansson; Lembikisa, Humphreys, Blackett, Bramall; Cafu, Tiehi (Kayode 81); Rathbone (McGuckin 87); Green (Appiah 72), Hugill (Eaves 71). Unused substitutes: Phillips, McCart, Eaves, Bola, Morrison, Douglas.

Leicester City: Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Westergaard, Doyle; Ndidi (Casadei 68), Winks, Dewsbury-Hall (Choudhury 88); McAteer (Justin 88), Iheanacho (Vardy 59), Mavididi. Unused substitutes: Ward, Stolarczyk, Albrighton, Castagne, Thomas.

Referee: S Hooper (Wiltshire).