Leeds travel to Rotherham with Milanic seeking first win

Leeds United travel to Yorkshire rivals Rotherham, with new boss Darko Milanic set to make a number of subtle changes. It is reported that academy coach, and former caretaker manager Neil Redfearn will be included in the backroom staff, while talented Brazilian loanee Adryan could also be in contention for a place in the squad, after impressing in the reserves.

The away side are 9/4 with Coral to secure a win, with Milanic so far having a defeat and two draws on his Whites record, a slight, but not disastrous slump in form from when Redfearn was in charge of first team duties. The last time the two sides played each other was in the football league trophy in 2008, a game which Rotherham won 4-2.

With a victory, Leeds can get right back in the race for the play-offs, and their current 14th place league position doesn’t necessarily reflect the amount of talent they have in their squad that is gradually starting to gel. Just three points ahead of their opponents, who are 6/5 for the win, Leeds will go to dominate as they did against Sheffield Wednesday, at home when they were unlucky not to take all three points.

Top scorer Souleymane Doukara is a good price at 2/1 to net anytime, and is a handful for any defence, while Billy Sharp started his career at Rotherham as a youngster, so will be looking to return to haunt them. Take odds of 13/2 for the latter to open the scoring.

Speaking recently, Sharp spoke of the task the squad have had unifying, so that they are all on the same page.

“It’s always hard when there’s a lot of players coming in, there’s the language barrier as well but I’m sure with time the blend will get better and we can only improve as a team.”

The home team have the likes of former Blackburn Rovers striker Matt Derbyshire leading the line for them, who has one goal to his name in all competitions, and he is 11/2 to net the first goal. Perhaps crucially for Leeds, former player Luciano Becchio will be injured for the match and will be a major blow for manager Steve Evans, with the Argentine having hit two goals in the league already this campaign.