Rovers were embarrassed, losing 4-0 at the league’s most out-of-form side.

Arguably the biggest concern is that such a result, and performance, doesn’t come as the biggest of shocks. If anything, it was all too predictable.

While outsiders would suggest this as a game that highlights the unpredictability of the league, those that have followed Rovers closely would suggest this a pattern of so many games before.

Only seven days earlier Rovers looked battle-hardened, determined and brave in securing an FA Cup win at Norwich City.

Here they looked naïve, weak and lacking in so many of the qualities they had shown in the cup.

The difference? The opening goal.

Rovers had something to hold on to at Norwich having taken the lead.

Behind after just 32 seconds to the Millers, it was they who had to force the issue in a bid to try and rescue a losing situation.

Yet again, they simply had no answer.

In a second half where a response was expected, Rovers cowered and couldn’t match the Millers’ aggression.

Things actually got worse, the hosts scoring three unanswered goals with Rovers failing to manage a shot on target.

They have now taken only 15 points from their 14 away games, and have scored only 10 goals. Eight of those away games have seen Rovers fail to threaten the scorers.

While Rovers still have a healthy points tally, there has been little to get carried away at.

Many of the wins have been unconvincing while the majority of the defeats have been comprehensive, this is a fifth defeat by at least a three-goal margin.

A team lacking in pace, and at worse, ideas, there have been periods where Rovers have been a tough watch.

They have rarely lacked in the effort stakes, but so often have looked crestfallen and lacking in solutions to problems posed by the opposition.

When they have been ahead they have been a tough nut to crack, organised, disciplined and determined.

Yet when trailing, games have passed them by all too easily.

Dilan Markanday looked bright off the bench, but Tomasson was once again unable to change the direction of a game with his substitutions, caveated by the lack of attacking options available to him.

While it is the number of wins, not defeats, which will define where a team finishes in the league, the number of the latter are to such an extent that it’s made it difficult to dream big about what the second half of the season could hold.

Some supporters have criticised Rovers for a lack of Plan B, but there have been stages where you have wondered what is Plan A, other than to keep hold of the ball.

Rotherham managed only 69 completed passes, Rovers over 400 more (478), yet the tackles were 23 to six in the hosts’ favour. Rovers went through 90 minutes with just one foul.

Rovers games have been so good as done when they have fallen behind.

Yet trailing inside the opening minute, the hope was that against a Millers side who had shipped 15 goals in their previous seven home games, there would be a route back.

Maybe there could be an equalising goal for the first time in the league this season, possibly maybe the first point(s) when trailing.

Despite a first half performance lacking in any real tempo, and followed a possession-by-numbers template and aimless balls forward, Rovers did still create three good opportunities.

Sam Gallagher should have done better when freed by Bradley Dack, by far and away Rovers’ most creative force in the opening 45 minutes, while Ryan Hedges was denied by the legs of Viktor Johansson when found clean through, while Dack himself had a header wide.

Whether by design or not, Rovers were out for the second half much earlier than the hosts, the feeling that kicking towards the end housing their 1,770 away fans that it would see an all-round improved display.

However, it felt as if Rovers were the ones still stuck in the dressing room as a string of weak challenges allowed Ollie Rathbone to thump home a second seven minutes into the second half.

A Rovers side who had failed to come back from one goal down in any match were never likely to do so from 2-0 down.

And then came the implosion.

Shane Ferguson made it 3-0 when scoring direct from a corner with 18 minutes to play, while in injury time Conor Washington added a fourth.

It was a humbling day, an ‘embarrassing’ performance in the eyes of Tomasson.

The worry is that Rovers have been here before and not learned the lessons.

They have largely responded to setbacks with a positive result, but this was a sixth defeat in nine games either side of the World Cup break.

The league position has been used as a counter-argument to criticism, but given the condensed nature of the table, it might not be the buffer for much longer.

Rovers were never expected to be in such a lofty position, but equally they aren’t being judged against that.

This wasn’t a case of losing ground on the top two, or the play-off chasers making ground.

The club are taking a longer-term picture, but so too are supporters than simply focusing on league position, yet they want to see signs of progress to give them something to cling on to.

The reaction, which saw boos during the game and also criticism on social media from those watching on from home, was based more on the worrying trend of these performances not being a one-off.

There is context needed in that Rovers' options were depleted, but without Ben Brereton, who himself hasn’t scored since before the break, goals look in very short supply across the squad.

The issue is just as much how are Rovers looking to score and create chances as who is there to take them.

In isolation, such a defeat and display could be passed off as being a bolt out of the blue, something that no-one foresaw, and the next game being a chance to put it right.

Sadly, these are things we have become accustomed to.

While Tomasson states that consistency of results will be hard to achieve, consistency of performance must equally be addressed.

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