Curtis Tilt: How my tough decision to leave Blackpool was made easier

The central defender’s move to the Millers in January ended Tilt’s two-and-a-half-year stay at Bloomfield Road and ended many months of speculation about other clubs moving in the for the 28-year-old.

Tilt told The Gazette: “It was a tough decision. It had been coming about for a year or so and last year at Blackpool was tough for me.

“I’ve fitted in well and it’s a great group of lads, just as it was at Blackpool. Knowing Clark Robertson and Kyle Vassell were already there helped me, especially Clark because of that relationship we had together in defence at Blackpool.

“Vass was hitting some good form. He was flying and scoring great goals.”

Tilt has managed just an hour of football since his January move across the Pennines – in a 3-1 defeat at Rochdale on the last Saturday before the shutdown.

But he always expected that breaking into the side would be tough, adding: “Rotherham were top of the league and on a 12-game unbeaten run at the time. I was prepared to train hard and wait for my chance because I knew I wasn’t going to just walk into a team that was potentially going into the Championship.

“I picked up an injury on the second day of training, which was frustrating.

“The gaffer never rushed me back as they were still winning, so it was just a waiting game.

“Michael Ihiekwe, the other centre-half, got injured, so I finally got my chance. Then the virus hit and obviously we’ve not been back since.”