Exclusive: Don Goodman fires big Rotherham United warning as promotion chances assessed | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit believes that Rotherham will find automatic promotion "very difficult" next season.

Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman believes that Rotherham United will find automatic promotion to the Championship "very difficult" following a difficult first season back in League One after relegation.

Rotherham were relegated at the end of the 2023-24 season in bottom place, with just 27 points from their 46 League matches. They ended last season in 13th place in League One.

Manager Steve Evans, who was in his second spell with the club, was sacked at the end of March and replaced by Matt Hamshaw, who had previously been a coach - and briefly the interim manager - at Derby County.

Don Goodman's 25/26 Rotherham United prediction

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman revealed that he considered Rotherham to have been one of his biggest disappointments in the EFL last season.

Goodman believes that a lot of work is required in order for the Millers to compete for promotion next time out.

"I think the strength of League One is going to pretty good next season, which is going to make it difficult for Rotherham, who were one of my biggest EFL disappointments last season," Goodman explained.

"Having been relegated from the Championship, to finish 13th was really poor and their points tally was closer to relegation than it was to a play-off spot even, so to bridge that gap they've got a lot of work to do", he added,

"Matt Hamshaw did okay at the end of last season, but there's quite a big gap for them to bridge, so automatic promotion will be very difficult."

Rotherham United had a very disappointing 2024/25 season

A run of just one win from their first eight League matches gave Rotherham a poor start to 2024/25, leaving them close the the League One relegation zone after eight games. They improved from that difficult start, but Evans couldn't survive a 4-0 home defeat against his former club Crawley Town on the 29th March, and he was sacked the next day with them 16th in League One.

Matt Hamshaw had already been lined up as their new manager and was quickly installed on a caretaker basis, being given the job permanently in the middle of April, with the Rotherham players reacting to his arrival with three consecutive wins.

But the Millers failed to win any of their last four matches of the season and finished in 13th place, a poor return overall for a club which may have been expecting to challenge near the top following relegation from the Championship.

Hamshaw had previously been on the coaching staff at Derby County, and he was put into the interim manager's position at Pride Park following the sacking of Paul Warne in February. Having drawn both of his games in temporary charge of the team, the first of which ended a run of seven straight defeats, John Eustace was appointed as the club's permanent manager and Hamshaw left the club.

If Rotherham are to improve on last season's disappointing finish, Matt Hamshaw will have a lot of work to do this summer.