Rotherham United continue their preparations for a return to the Championship with a meeting against Salford City on Wednesday evening.
While this will represent the Millers' fourth game of the summer, Salford will be competing in their third having only gotten their schedule underway on Saturday.
Match preview
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Rotherham have become somewhat of a yo-yo club between the second and third tiers in recent years, and Paul Warne will be eager to change that perception this time around.
While Warne may not have anticipated having to make so many changes to a squad which had earned promotion to the second tier, there is an argument that a freshness to the squad will benefit the club going forward.
Of the new additions, former Manchester City youngster Cameron Humphreys stands out having spent the last three seasons playing in Belgium with Zulte Waregem.
Nevertheless, each of the fresh faces will need to hit the ground running, and five fixtures in less than two weeks will certainly help this side get up to speed.
So far, victories have been recorded against Parkgate and Fleetwood Town, the latter against League One opponents coming by a 2-0 scoreline.
Meanwhile, Salford have eased back into action with games against Newcastle Town and Warrington Rylands 1906, matches which have been won by 3-1 and 7-2 scorelines respectively.
New head coach Neil Wood will be encouraged by the amount of goals that have been scored in his opening two games, although for the former Manchester United Under-23s boss will be aware that far stiffer challenges await.
As it stands, there have been far more outgoings than incomings, but the acquisition of Stevie Mallan from Yeni Malatyaspor highlights the level of player that the North-West outfit feel that they can attract this summer.
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Wood may opt to select the majority of the Salford players which started the fixture at Warrington Rylands.
That would see new signing Elliot Watt retain his place in the team, but Marcus Dackers is pushing for an opportunity after netting a hat-trick in the previous game as a substitute.
While Warne may already be settling on a starting lineup in his mind, he could look to up the game time for some of his new signings.
Humphreys and Cohen Bramall were only used as substitutes last time out and could come into the team for this contest.
With both teams also having friendlies on Tuesday, their starting lineups remain somewhat of an unknown.
Salford City possible starting lineup:
King; Shephard, Berkoe, O'Brien, Vassell, Melhado, Watt, Watson, Thomas-Asante, McAleny, Bolton
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson, Wood, Odoffin, Humphreys, Kioso, Barlaser, Lindsay, Rathbone, Bramall, Washington, Kelly
We say: Salford City 1-2 Rotherham United
Given the uncertainty over the level of team which will be fielded by each side, this is a difficult match to call. Salford ought to be competitive regardless of the starting lineups, but we feel that Rotherham will still prevail by a narrow margin.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
