Opposition view: Rotherham boss 'didn't see it coming' after first half struggles
Rotherham United manager Matt Hamshaw admitted he ‘didn’t see it coming’ after his side came from a goal down to beat Northampton 2-1 on Tuesday.
Cobblers enjoyed the better of proceedings for an hour at the New York Stadium, leading through Tom Eaves’ 26th-minute goal, but Harry Gray and Emmanuel Adegboyega both scored headers to hand Rotherham their first league win since November.
“I certainly didn’t think it was coming at half-time, that was for sure,” Hamshaw confessed. “It was a disappointing first half and it felt a bit like the Northampton game earlier this season when we were low on confidence after a run of defeats.
“Then all of a sudden we get a bit of a spark, Harry scores his first senior goal and then it gets better with Manny scoring. They are two players we’ve brought in in this window who have made a huge impact tonight.
“It’s just nice to win a game of football. We’ve got to build on that, but let’s enjoy this for now after what has been a rough few weeks for us all.”
Both Rotherham goals came from set-pieces and whilst that was a huge source of frustration for Kevin Nolan, his opposite number understandably felt very differently.
"We have to be more of a threat from set-pieces,” Hamshaw added. “I’ve been as disappointed as anyone with our set-pieces because it’s something we work on but we have to show more aggression and it’s all down to the delivery.
“It’s a good group of lads, they’ve been low on confidence but when you bring in new players, they haven’t got the damage, they haven’t got the baggage that some players have got here. They come in with a fresh mentality and they’ve invigorated the group a little bit.
“I’m disappointed we haven’t got six points after drawing with Wimbledon on Saturday, but it’s relief we’ve got the win tonight and this has to be the turning point for us.”