Steve Evans offers warning to Birmingham City’s ‘£25m war chest’

Rotherham United hopes to compete with Birmingham City at the top of League One.

Steve Evans has warned League One that Rotherham United will be ready to compete, including against cash-rich Birmingham City, who are already the envy of the third division.

Evans is assembling a Rotherham squad to push for promotion back to the Championship after being at the bottom last season. The Scot has already acquired ten new players, including prolific League One striker Jonson Clarke-Harris on a free transfer from Peterborough United.

The Millers have earned promotion to the Championship four times in the last ten years and are considered early favourites. The Blues, on the other hand, are clear favourites to win League One thanks to their team and the financial strength of American owners Knighthead.

When appraising Rotherham’s competitors, Evans first mentioned the Blues. He also mentioned fellow demoted club Huddersfield Town, which had hired Michael Duff as manager and transferred Jack Rudoni to Coventry City for about £5 million to improve their finances.

Evans stated, “I think it illustrates how challenging it will be. When you look at Birmingham with a £25 million war chest to fund new players, and Huddersfield with new ownership, and Wrexham, Stockport, and Mansfield, Bolton Wanderers, and Charlton Athletic with new ownership and a great manager, each of them will be tough in their own way.

“But we’ve put together a team that we believe will be able to handle the challenges of League One. It’s the most difficult in many years, but we’ll be ready.”