The Spireites return to action this evening (7pm) at the SMH Group Stadium, hosting Rotherham United in Round of 16 of the Vertu Trophy, following a 3-2 win over Wigan Athletic in the previous round.
The Millers are enduring a steady season so far, sat 13th in League One, which may disappoint fans of the South Yorkshire club, who would have hoped for a promotion push following their relegation from the Championship last term.
Rotherham hosted Tranmere Rovers, of League Two, in the last round of the Vertu Trophy and beat them 3-2, thanks to goals from Jonson Clarke-Harris, Hakeem Odoffin and former Spireite Zak Jules.
Head-to-head
It has been over seven years since the Spireites faced Rotherham, which happened to also be in the same competition. Back in October 2017, the Spireites ran out 2-1 victors at the New York Stadium, after an early Diego De Girolamo strike and a late Jak McCourt header sealed the win.
The last league game between the sides came almost 12 years ago, at the New York Stadium, with the Millers winning 1-0 in a game that featured Jack Lester, Liam Cooper and Tommy Lee for the Spireites.
In March 2011, the Spireites famously put five past Rotherham, in front of the TV cameras. Lester contributed three of the goals with Dean Holden and Craig Davies also on the scoresheet, during John Sheridan’s first spell at the club.
Manager – Steve Evans
Rotherham appointed Steve Evans on a three-year deal towards the back end of last season, as the club’s relegation from the Championship was already settled under Leam Richardson.
Evans will be hopeful of emulating the success he oversaw in his first spell at Rotherham, in which he achieved back-to-back promotions, in 2012/13 to League One and 2013/14 to the Championship.
Rotherham currently sit ten points adrift of the League One play-off places so Evans will be looking to close that gap in the second half of the season.
Player-in-focus – Jonson Clarke-Harris
Clarke Harris signed for the Millers ahead of the current season on a free transfer, following the expiration of his contract from Peterborough United, where he scored 87 goals in 190 appearances.
This season, the striker has netted seven goals, with six coming in 21 League One appearances and the other coming in the last round of the Vertu Trophy.
