Leeds United v Rotherham United: Warne preparing for 'surreal' Marcelo Bielsa clash

Rotherham United head coach Paul Warne has revealed it will be 'a bit surreal' to face Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa this weekend.
Paul Warne.Paul Warne.
Paul Warne.

Warne's Millers make the short trip north to face the Whites at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon (3pm) in the first Yorkshire derby of the season for either side.

Rotherham enter the fixture full of confidence having grabbed a late winner in their first league victory of the season against Ipswich Town at the New York Stadium last weekend and after progressing in the Carabao Cup against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday night.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Warne though is looking forward to testing himself against Leeds boss Bielsa and is expecting a tough afternoon.

"It's strange to be coming up against someone as a manager who has such a high profile, but that's the joy of football," Warne told his pre-match press conference.

"It's a bit surreal but we'll spend the next two days showing the lads how we think we can cause problems.

"I'm hopeful after back-to-back wins the lads have confidence in themselves, which they should have and we go into the game with no expectations. They can go and enjoy being the underdog. Leeds have been very impressive."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Warne added midfielder Ryan Manning to his squad on Thursday as the former Republic of Ireland under-21 international joined on a season-long loan from Queens Park Rangers.

The 22-year-old may be handed his debut against United this weekend and revealed that it was the lure of first-team football under Warne that sealed the deal.

"I'm coming here because I want to stay in the division and have a good season," Manning said.

"I've played about 40 games for QPR in the Championship so when the opportunity came to get more Championship football and hopefully play week-in week out, I couldn't really turn it down.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"For me personally I'm just looking to play every game and build up some good experience in the Championship and between now and the end of the season I'll have developed as a player and first and foremost, that Rotherham are still in the division so we can look back on a good season for everyone."