Rotherham United receive boost ahead of clash as Taylor provides update
Rotherham United boss Matt Taylor has said Cafu and Grant Hall ‘should’ be involved this evening.
Rotherham United are in Championship action with a home clash against Bristol City. They lost 2-0 away at Cardiff City last time out.
Both Cafu and Hall have been injured over recent times. However, the pair have returned to training ahead of the match against the Robins.
Taylor has provided this update regarding the duo, as per The Yorkshire Post: “Yes, they (Cafu and Hall) should be involved. We will make a decision tomorrow as to who starts and in what capacity they can start (be involved).”
Rotherham boost
Having Cafu and Hall back is a boost for Rotherham as they look to hit some form. They are currently sat in 23rd place in the table.
Taylor’s side have picked up five points from their first nine outings. The Yorkshire outfit are four points from safety with only Sheffield Wednesday below them in the league.
Cafu has missed the last four outings and his absence has been felt in the middle of the park. He joined the club over the summer following his exit from Premier League side Nottingham Forest at the end of the last campaign.
The former Portugal youth international gives Taylor another option to pick from in midfield and injects experience into the side. He made 55 appearances for Forest during his time at the City Ground and helped them gain promotion to the top flight under Steve Cooper back in 2022.
Hall hasn’t featured at all yet this term due to a hamstring injury. He made his move to Rotherham permanent in July after his loan spell from Middlesbrough.
The 31-year-old has played just under 250 games in his career to date following spells at QPR and Middlesbrough and will be assessed ahead of the Millers’ match against Bristol City.
Millers Finally Slay Their Giant, Whilst The Urchins Aveley Curse Continued On Cup Replay Tuesday
Elsewhere, away wins for Cray and Canvey lift them up the table, whilst Binfield, Chertsey, Hythe and Ashford United have to be content with a point each
Emirates FA Cup
After a three-three draw on Saturday, Pitching In Isthmian South East side Cray Valley PM and Premier Division Carshalton Athletic met to find out who would host Enfield Town in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round. The answer was the Millers, manager Steve McKimm masterminding the defeat of the Robins side he managed last year- a late goal giving Athletic no time to respond.
It was Carshalton- who let a three-one lead slip on Saturday- who broke the deadlock five minutes before half time, Olu Babajide with the opener. The visitors held that lead until just before the hour, when Freddie Parker delivered his eighth goal of the season, and with just a minute to go and extra time looking likely Cem Tumkaya stepped up to be the match winner. It’s only three years since the Millers were last in the First Round of the competition, and they’ll be confident of giving the Towners a bloody nose and returning to such lofty heights once more.
Steve McKimm is pictured with his squad as he received the Vita Risk Solutions Manager of the Month Award for August.
Hornchurch must be heartily sick of Aveley. Last season the Urchins lost twice to the Millers in the League, and a third time in the Play Off Final, and in last night’s Cup Replay Aveley did it again, coming from behind to send the tie to Extra Time with five minutes remaining and then scoring the crucial goal in the one hundred and fourteenth minute. It all looked positive for the Urchins when Sam Higgins put them ahead just after the half hour, and it remained positive until Charlie Hughes levelled with five minutes left. On one hundred and fourteen minutes the winner arrived, Matt Rush maintaining the Urchins Aveley curse with a winner.
A home tie with Barnet awaits the victors.
Into Pitching In Isthmian Premier now, and Billericay Town welcomed Canvey Island for an Essex derby. Billericay had a five match unbeaten run to try to extend- and indeed had only one defeat all season- whilst the travelling Gulls were looking to end a five match run of defeats against their hosts stretching back to 2015. The match looked to be ebbing towards a goalless draw, and then, two minutes into added time, an effort from Elliott Ronto spiralled over Dan Wilks in the Blues goal and earned a valuable three points for the visitors. Canvey are up to twelfth, a point behind Town.
Concord Rangers would have been buoyed by their first win of the season last Saturday, a victory which moved them off the bottom of the table- but their honeymoon period was brief as Cray Wanderers came to call. Wands have had an unexpectedly poor start to the campaign, but normal service was resumed last night as they coasted to victory. George Porter opened the scoring for the visitors on fourteen minutes, and just before half time Cameron Black made it two. If the outcome was still in any doubt, that doubt ended sixteen minutes from time when Anthony Cook made it three-nil from the spot.
Pitching In Isthmian South East saw Hythe Town welcome Ashford United. Neither side have had the start to the campaign we- and they- might have expected, and both needed a performance which would get their campaigns back on track, but they had to be content with a point each after a late, late leveller from the visitors.
The Cannons went ahead after six minutes, Lex Allen coming up from the back to finish, but the visitors drew level from the spot twenty five minutes later, Danny Parish holding his nerve. Fifteen minutes from time the hosts looked to have clinched victory, Aaron Barnes making it two-one, but right at the end Lewis Knight earned the Nuts and Bolts a point. The two sides are level on points and just a place apart, Hythe in seventh and United in eighth.
In Pitching In Isthmian South Central, bottom side Binfield continued their search for a first win as fifth place Chertsey Town came to call. That search remains active, but at least the Moles, who conceded eight at Southall on Saturday, managed to take a point. They went ahead from the spot on sixty three minutes, Donate Whittaker holding his nerve, but the Curfews levelled ten minutes before time as Liam Flanighan earned them a point.
