Paul Warne applauds Joshua Kayode for his ‘big boy’ contribution

Posted Wednesday, February 09, 2022 by PA

Boss Paul Warne praised Joshua Kayode after the 21-year-old’s first League One goal for Rotherham was enough to seal all three points in a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon.

The South Yorkshire team thought they had gone ahead 17 minutes after a strong start, although Will Grigg’s header was ruled offside.

Despite their dominance they failed to register a shot on target in the first half, though ramped up the pressure in the second half.

And they were rewarded when Chiedozie Ogbene’s cross was met by Kayode, who slotted the ball in the bottom right corner.

The win puts Rotherham nine points clear at the top, while Wimbledon sit just above the relegation zone having not won in 12 games across all competitions.

Kayode was the man of the moment after the match, with his manager heaping praise on him.

Warne said: “I’m over the moon for him [Kayode] – he’s got his first big boy goal. There’s no better feeling as a striker, to get the winner in a 1-0 win.

“It’s very difficult to get in this team, it takes a lot of hard work, but he’s come on and got his goal.

“He’s a goal threat, and although we spend a lot of time shouting at him he is improving. He’s a very popular figure in the dressing room and we’re happy for him.

“We were trying to win the game from the outset, draws are no good to us and we’re trying to grab every game by the throat. I thought we created enough chances to win and deserved it.

“They’re a really well organised team and they defend set pieces very well. It was my big fear, because every time we had a set piece the keeper came for it and then they attacked at pace, but I’m really pleased we kept a clean sheet.”

Dons boss Mark Robinson admitted his side did not show enough personality to threaten the leaders.

He said: “We had a decent first half but you’ve got to have personality off and on the ball, and I just didn’t think we had enough to seriously hurt them.

“They’re a very good side and they get at you, and when they do you’ve got to have players that want the ball, are happy to receive the ball, stretch them, and we did that a couple of times in the first half – but that just didn’t happen in the second.

“We’ve just got to keep working. We’re disappointed tonight because we haven’t offered a threat.

“We knew that our season wouldn’t be defined on this 90 minutes because of where Rotherham are, but we wanted to match them physically.

“We did that for the most part, but then we just fell off when it came to getting on the ball.”