Rotherham manager Steve Evans praised two-goal match-winner Sam Nombe following a dramatic 3-2 victory over Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.
The Scot paid tribute to the former Exeter striker after his added-time heroics gave Rotherham a last-gasp three points.
While Nombe eased the Millers’ League One relegation worries, he also deepened Rovers’ fears of the drop with the result leaving the Gas just one place above the drop zone.
“When I first started managing him I told Sam how I hated the fact that he always gave me heartache when he was at Exeter,” Evans said.
“That was because he always seemed to be really good against my teams but thankfully he’s doing the opposite now and giving me lots to smile about.
“Sam’s now got 10 goals to his name this season but I’d like him to push on to the 17 or 18-goal mark like he was with Exeter when we paid £1.3million for him.
“We’re now starting to see the best of Sam after he had to play as a lone striker in the Championship which was tough going.
“Sam is a gem of a young kid and I’m really chuffed for him that all his hard work in training has paid off so richly.
“He works really hard on his finishing as well as his fitness and that showed today, right at the death.”
Ruel Sotiriou put Rovers ahead after five minutes but Nombe levelled on 36 minutes with a close-range finish.
Zak Jules headed the Yorkshire side into the lead after 52 minutes before Aston Villa loanee defender Sil Swinkels nodded in an equaliser, only for Nombe to have the final say.
Rovers manager Inigo Calderon, whose side have now lost three games in a row, made no attempt to hide his disappointment with a crunch game at Shrewsbury looming.
“The last two games have been difficult to take and that’s especially the case after they had scored their second goal but we found a way back,” Calderon said.
“I always prefer to go for a win but as we were losing I was quite happy with a point but we couldn’t even hold on to that which is very frustrating.
“We clearly have to defend set-pieces better and make sure we allow our opponents less opportunities.
“The good thing is that we have Tuesday at Shrewsbury which is a great challenge especially we we’ve been quite bad away from home.
“So we go again and we have to remain calm but understand where we are but we must stick together and do things better.”
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