Matt Hamshaw rues Rotherham’s lack of firepower in defeat at Huddersfield

Rotherham boss Matt Hamshaw was left despairing at his side’s lack of firepower after they spurned the best chances in a 1-0 defeat away to a sub-par Huddersfield.

Lenny Agbaire’s own goal separated the sides, with the result keeping the Millers inside the relegation zone with 11 games left to play having scored just twice in their past six league games.

He said: “I just feel a little bit like a broken record. I feel like some of the performance levels were OK, but at times we were just a bit young and a bit naive and we’ve got to do more to score a goal.

“I felt first half we played well without really troubling their keeper, which annoys me. We played some good stuff at times, but look, we’ve lost a game of football.

“So it’s all well and good but we’re not at the start of the season, we’re at the end of season and we need some points.

“I thought we had the best of it, not just for the first 10-15 minutes but for most of the game. I thought the [home] fans here turned on [Huddersfield] and they were cheering about having a shot on target after 60-odd minutes.

“What we’re missing is the bits that annoy me – there’s probably a little bit of firepower lacking and it was a good opportunity for us that we haven’t taken.”

Huddersfield boss Liam Manning was meanwhile keen to see the positives in claiming a victory that keeps their play-off hopes alive, despite the performance leaving a lot to be desired.

He said: “It was a tough game. There were obviously loads of areas we can improve and get better, but at the stage of the season we’re at, a clean sheet and three points is the most important thing.

“Winning games is extremely difficult and some of our performances at home have been very good, so it’s probably the first time we’ve found it tough, up against a team that are scrapping and have been on a decent run of form over their past couple of games.

“Can we be better? Of course we can. But I’d much prefer to be sitting here with a one-nil win and three points than not.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a concern. We’ve conceded three goals from open play in 10 games, so there’s a lot of good things we’re doing about defending our own box. We looked a lot better from set pieces here, which is something we’ve talked about and worked on a lot this week.

“We weren’t at our best but we found a way to win and at this stage of the season that’s really important.”