'Starting to gel' - Miller on Rovers' upturn in results and tactical tweak

Lewis Miller is enjoying playing in a back three and hopes it can help Rovers keep climbing the Championship table.

Valerien Ismael’s side had a rocky start but are now up to 18th place after three successive victories, including two on the road.

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A versatile defender, Miller was already comfortable playing in a three from his time at Hibernian and believes it is helping to get the best out of his team-mates.

“I think the gaffer has obviously found a solution. I think we have played unbelievably in this position and it allows us to press really high,” he told RoversTV.

“I am very familiar with the position because I played it at my old club, Hibernian in Scotland. It is a very familiar position for me and I am very comfortable.

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“I think if you watch the performances in the past few weeks, you can kind of see that we are understanding this formation and we are very happy to continue where we are going.

“We have got such good wing-backs. Ry (Alebiosu) is unbelievable. He gets an assist or goal each game pretty much.

“It was just a matter of him finding that momentum to get that kind of final end product and now he is flying.

“On the left side, we have got Dion (De Neve), we have got Hedgey (Ryan Hedges), we have so much pace and power out wide so it is a really positive sign for us.”

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The Australian international felt that Rovers had been unfortunate in some of their defeats and remained confident that results would improve if they kept putting in the hard yards.

“We have been playing good football, we were unfortunate at times and things haven’t gone our way,” he reflected.

“Once that kind of switches and goes the other way, look at what we are doing now. Obviously, it is very early days but we are looking to carry that on and hopefully we can do that.

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“We have shown we are a lot more lethal now up front. We are scoring goals, which is exactly what you need to do to win football games.

“It is a matter of keeping our defence rock solid and I’d like to say that we are getting better and better.

“It is that communication and bond between us players. It was a whole new squad at the start of the season, we didn’t really know one another. Now, we are starting to gel and get to know one another, on and off the field. It is good.”

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Ismael came under pressure after a run of five games without victory, but Miller says the head coach remained calm throughout the highs and lows.

“He is a very calm, composed leader which I think is perfect. At times, he has to let the emotion come through just to show us how much it means to him,” he said.

“When we see that much passion from a manager, all we want to do is fight for him and he has been amazing.

“Obviously, we have been under the palm but he has just remained calm. We are very fortunate to have him and I am very happy that we are winning for him.”

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Andri Gudjohnsen bagged a brace in the win at Leicester and Yuki Ohashi got the decisive goal at Bristol City several days later.

Miller reckons the pair are well suited as a strike partnership and hopes they can continue to have joy in the final third in the coming weeks.

“I am quite close with (Gudjohnsen) and I am a big fan of the way he plays. He is like a hold-up, clinical number nine so I think in the next few weeks, we are really going to see the best of him,” he predicted.

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“(Ohashi) has got three lungs! He is unbelievable, he is such a team player. He will run countlessly for us, he will do three people’s jobs! That is why he is such a great asset for this club.

“I think they are kind of contradicting, they have two very different playing styles and it just fits. Andri is kind of hold-up, playmaking and Yuki will always provide an option in behind.

“I think we have really got that balance correct and I am very excited to see where this team goes.”

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