Rotherham 2-1 Millwall

The Lions made the perfect start when Martyn Woolford volleyed the visitors in front on 20 minutes after Shaun Williams’ delivery was flicked into his path by Gary Taylor-Fletcher.

Lee Gregory was denied eight minutes before the break by the quick thinking of Millers keeper Adam Collin.

However, the hosts were back on terms within a minute of the second half as beaten by Danny Ward’s effort went in off Jos Hooiveld.

Jack Hunt saw his low drive cannon back off the post with Forde making an excellent stop to keep out Ward’s follow up.

Rotherham had an 82nd minute penalty claim ignored after Ward went to ground in the box from a corner.

However, it was from another corner two minutes later they went in front as Kari Arnason headed home to open up a six-point gap in the table over their relegation rivals.

That goal prompted some unsavoury scenes among a minority of the away fans which resulted in clashes with the police in stewards in both corners.

Time will tell if there are to be any repercussions from that incident, but afterwards Holloway admitted the pressure was now on him with the Lions sat six points from safety and staring relegation in the face.

He said: “It tests you and at the moment we're finding it very, very difficult to get the right results. And that's all of us.

“So I understand how the modern-day fan feels and normally you can have an effect the more noise you make.

“I hope that doesn’t happen but I'm fully aware of the job that I’m trying to do - my remit was to keep us up and then get us up. For me that hasn't changed.

“We'll look at it, talk about it and we're all adults. I believe I’ve got to do what's right for the club.

“I believe it’s me who can turn this around but if other people don’t, then that’s outside of my control.

“If a group of supporters had the button, they’d have probably pushed it.

“We’ve got to deal with that. The press will write things and the pressure seems to be building and building in the Championship, which is the hardest division of them all.”

Holloway also rushed to the defence of chairman John Berylson after he too had come in for some flak.

He said: “Some managers have been sacked when they’re seventh in the league because their chairman doesn’t want them. It’s a crazy game at the moment.

“I get on fantastically well with my chairman and he got abused coming out of the ground the other day, and he doesn’t deserve that.

“If it weren’t for him, there wouldn’t be a Millwall at the moment.”

Despite another setback, Holloway claimed there had been an improvement in the display from Tuesday night’s Den defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.

The boss said: “I saw all sorts of good things coming from my team. I didn’t recognise them after we conceded on Tuesday but that didn't happen today - even in the pressure pit of this game.

“I believe they’ll get stronger.

“But what will happen when they hear that shouted about me, I can only clear up with my board and my chairman.

“We’ll be talking and we'll have to wait and see. I’m not talking about speculation and all of that nonsense now, I’m preparing for Middlesbrough away and Norwich at home.

“I still believe we’re a great club who will stay up in a very tough division.”

Holloway was the first to acknowledge, though, that today’s result was a huge dent to his side’s prospects of staying up

He explained: “Obviously it is bitterly disappointing for everybody connected with us because first half it certainly didn’t feel like that when we came in the dressing room.

“That’s football I’m afraid. It is a modern day thing, if you get a goal and you are away from home you need to hang on to that.

“We could have gone in the truth is at half-time by two.

“Unfortunately we didn’t take that second opportunity and that’s proved crucial because a point here would have kept them closer to us.

“Now it looks very difficult but it is not. It’s 12 games left and that is a fact.

“This time last year we had the same points as we’ve got now.

“With only nine games left we dropped to the bottom, rock bottom, and we managed to come back so there is more than enough points to fight for.”

Holloway added:  “Unfortunately we’ve got to get through this period where things seem to be going against us.

“Take Gary Taylor-Fletcher’s cut on his head for example. I think it was an elbow.

“He swears it was a deliberate elbow but we couldn’t stop it bleeding and the rules now are that you’ve got to go off and you’ve got to stay off.

“So it was going to take 10 minutes so I had to make a decision.

“Unfortunately after that we didn’t look the same.

“It is nothing to do with the person who came on, it was just how the way things go.

“Then Fabbrini gets injured, he has got to come off and I’m touching wood that he is not injured now for Tuesday at Middlesbrough.

“That’s just the way things go for us. Unfortunately we could have done better from a corner.”

The manager claimed he had come so close to getting it right today and that the outcome could have been very different had Gregory made it 2-0 before half-time.

Holloway said: “You could see the tactics we employed today were slightly different than we normally do and it almost worked.

“We knew their front six pressing is pretty amazing how they do it.

“Whoever has got past that lately they’ve got at their back four.

“With the greatest respect that is what we managed to do and we didn’t capitalise on it.

“If the second goal had gone in it might have knocked the stuffing right out of them.

“They got a goal at the right time and somebody didn’t quite block it. They’ve blocked it, half blocked it and that took it past my goalie. That’s just the way it is. “

He added: “It gave them a huge lift but even sat there and stood there I didn’t believe that we would concede another one, but in this level that is what happens.

“Whatever we did today we’ve let two goals in away from home and that is two many.

“I’m not going to blame my defence for doing that or my forwards for missing, the fact is at the minute it is culminating in those things.

“Results are what it is all about. I’m not getting them and the fans then turn on me. I’m glad they are doing that and not on my team.”

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