Rotherham assistant Paul Raynor happy to win ugly against Lincoln

Rotherham assistant boss Paul Raynor hailed his battling side as they fought off Lincoln to win a tetchy League One encounter 2-1 in South Yorkshire.

Former Imp Sean Raggett headed home the winner in the 77th minute after Jovon Makama’s strike had cancelled out Sam Nombe’s first-half opener for the Millers.

Rotherham had not won a league game for over a month and assistant Raynor said: “We needed that win.

“It was a long time coming and that will relieve some of the pressure.

“We knew exactly how Lincoln were going to play, what they were going to do and we knew we were in for a battle.

“Big players put in big performances and there was a real togetherness in the side tonight.

“It wasn’t pretty at times, but the way they all dug in was excellent and I’m delighted for them and the club. We had some big players back tonight and the guys grew in confidence because of that.

“We all needed that, we all needed a lift and some positivity and the way the crowd got behind us at the end was great, although it got a little bit twitchy, which was to be expected.”

On match-winner Raggett, he added: “I know Sam Nombe got man of the match, but for me Sean Raggett was the best player on the pitch, head and shoulders above everyone else. He was a man-mountain back there, he really was.”

Kick-off was delayed by 30 minutes due to an external electrical failure.

When play started, Rotherham took the lead after 21 minutes when an unmarked Nombe headed home.

Lincoln took just five minutes of the second half to restore parity as Makama smashed home the rebound after Jack Moylan’s free-kick was kept out by Dillon Phillips.

But Raggett settled the game when he headed home Joe Powell’s cross following a short-corner routine, leaving his former club winless in five league games.

A frustrated Lincoln manager Michael Skubala said: “I thought we dealt with their direct play really well, they didn’t really get anything from open play and they probably won the set-piece game.

“We didn’t deal with the aerial stuff and we didn’t defend well enough.

“It’s frustrating as we got back into the game and did well for parts of it. We were in control, had lots of territory, but it feels like nothing is landing for us at the moment.

“It doesn’t matter what you do in the middle of the pitch, it’s what you do in both boxes.

“We have to deal with these things in our box and score more – we’ve created enough chances to have won the game, but we can’t keep shipping goals like we are at the minute.

“When we lost Jacko (Adam Jackson) after just seven minutes (to a head injury), we lost a very dominant aerial player against a very dominant aerial team.”