 |  I don't think we are the worst side in the league, but the statistics say otherwise |
Rotherham United caretaker manager Alan Knill believes his players should take their share of the blame for the club's disastrous results this season.
The Millers have been rooted to the foot of the Championship table for the entire campaign, and Saturday's 2-1 defeat at Burnley left Knill's side 18 points from safety with nine games left to play.
"You don't have to mention the word 'relegation' - everybody's seen the table, but you don't talk about it, you just focus on the next game," Knill told BBC Sport.
"I'm happy to take responsibility for results, but I think the players should take some as well.
"They should stand up and say 'It's our fault', because there's nothing I can do from the side of the pitch on a Saturday afternoon to legislate for some of the goals we've conceded.
"Throughout the season, individual mistakes have cost us. I don't think we are the worst side in the league, but the statistics say otherwise."
Formerly the club's reserve and youth-team coach, Knill took charge of first team affairs until the end of the season following the exit of Ronnie Moore in January.
Ex-Millers striker Mark Robins rejoined the club as Knill's assistant, and admits only a miraculous improvement in form would give the team any hope of avoiding the drop.
"We need to win all the games we have left," Robins told BBC Sport. "You have to be realistic, but, to use all the clich�s, until it's mathematically impossible, until we need four points with one game remaining, we won't give up."
The departure of fans' favourite Moore, who led United to two successive promotions, came after the club was taken over by Millers 05 Ltd, a group made up of Rotherham supporters.
 Former Millers striker Robins has returned as assistant manager |
"The new board have been fully supportive of our ideas and have been brilliant with us," says Robins.
"Ronnie did a great job, and because of that, I think people were genuinely disappointed with the way he went."
Ever since Rotherham's elevation to Championship level in 2001, there are those who have been waiting for the bubble to burst.
But Robins, whose goals played a major part in the club's rise, believes The Millers likely return to the lower divisions was not always the inevitability it now seems.
"We got into this division on merit, but we're bottom of the league at the moment because we haven't been performing to that level for one reason or another," he says.
"It's just gradually slipped away. You need to keep the momentum going at a club."
The challenge of improving the playing squad at Millmoor has proved a frustrating one, but Knill is philosophical about his club's ability to compete in the transfer market.
"When it comes to attracting players, Rotherham is alongside the likes of Gillingham and Crewe, but you just accept it and make sure you target the right ones," he says.
Robins agrees, and is adamant that Millers supporters can look forward to better times both on and off the pitch.
"Any frustrations the fans have should be starting to ebb away, because the club is moving forward.
"The stadium is getting a new stand, and work will start on that at the end of the season. That is absolutely nailed on."
Both men have expressed a desire to remain at Millmoor beyond this season, and Knill already has one eye on the future.
"We're trying to change the culture at the club. Before, we were a battling side, but the group of players that played in that team are older now, and aren't suited to that style of play any more," he says.
"We want to produce a group of younger players, put them in the side and then sell them on. That will benefit the long-term future of the club and make it stronger."
MMIX
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