PAUL Warne admitted he would have feared a tough end to the game for his Rotherham United side if Matty Taylor had taken a big chance for Oxford United.
The substitute anticipated a poor backpass from Ben Wiles, but could not make the most of it and fired wide.
It would have reduced the Millers’ lead, which had been 3-0 at half-time, to 3-2 with 15 minutes remaining.
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Warne said: “My only frustration was Wilesy’s back pass. I think if that had gone in it would have made a very tough ten minutes.
“They had to go for it and I thought the Oxford fans were really good.
“They got right behind their team and they did cause us problems, as they will – I think they’re the best team in the league.
“We rode our luck at times, defended really well at times and broke really well at times.”
But the Millers did enough before the break to win the game, which took them top of Sky Bet League One on goal difference.
Warne was delighted to see their strategy pay off.
He said: “We were good in the first half and I thought we deservedly went in 3-0 up.
“We had a plan of how to play against them. We had to block inside spaces, and we didn’t mind defending crosses.
“The first half performance was enough to win the game.
“Overall we’re really pleased against a really good team.”
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