The Cod Army were good value for their first league win in six attempts as Shaun Rooney and top scorer Ronan Coughlan secured the three points.

Lawlor said: “I thought we were in control for large parts of the game. We talked in the week about making small spells into large spells and we did that today in the times when we scored the goals.

“I was really pleased with the composure we showed in both boxes. I was pleased with the chances we created and I thought we defended really well which is evidenced by the clean sheet.”

Lawlor credited his player’s response to the words they had at half-time and felt that was key in earning them the three points.

He added: “They sat off us in the first half and that makes it hard to create chances. We got in at half-time and said to each other that it was important to get the fans off their seats and get them involved and create a reaction out of them and bring the game alive a bit and obviously getting a goal immediately massively helped with that.

“Half past twelve is a weird time to play football and often it creates a lull so it is really important to get on the front foot and get the fans involved and get them off their seats to create an atmosphere and I felt we did that excellently in the second half.”

Rotherham boss Alex Bruce was left frustrated as his side fell to a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions.

After a tight opening period, the Millers found themselves a goal down less than a minute into the second half, a moment which Bruce felt cost them dearly.

He said: “We felt comfortable in the first half and our words at half-time were more of the same defensively so for us to come out and concede within the first minute after that message is hugely disappointing.

“I sound like a broken record as it is the same thing at the minute. We have to do the basics and defend our box better because that is what has cost us the game again today.”

Bruce was keen to place emphasis on the Millers’ next two fixtures being home matches and stressed the importance of arresting their recent decline.

“I’ve just said now to the players that they’ve got two home games now to show a response to what has been a bad week or ten days for us,” he said.

“It is only two weeks since we went to Northampton and won ugly with a 1-0 and you could see that the confidence was there.

“The way of getting out of this now is by rolling up our sleeves and having a go.”