ALAN Knill praised his men for their fourth consecutive clean sheet but was left counting the cost of two bookings which now leave him without half of his defence ahead of tomorrow’s Gigg Lane clash against Torquay United.

A booking each for right back Phil Picken and central defender Efe Sodje were the most significant statistics to emerge from the stalemate at the Don Valley Stadium.

The yellow cards took both men up to the 10-bookings mark and they are now suspended for two matches as Bury bid to maintain their tilt for automatic promotion in second place in League Two.

“If you’ve only got a squad of 16 or 17 players it’s a real struggle,” said the Bury manager. “We can look at what we’ve got, but I asked around the dressing room if anyone fancied playing centre back or right back, and there wasn’t too many takers. Either we force them into it or we try our best tomorrow to try to get someone.”

Knill admitted that a draw against his old club and one of Bury’s chief promotion rivals was a fair result.

“It was a battling point, but I thought it was a fair result,” he said. “Both teams had chances, but they just lacked that little bit of quality to take the three points.”

The Shakers could have had no complaints if they had been two goals down within the first five minutes.

With the game only 30 seconds old, the Gigg Lane men were caught cold as Adam Le Fondre headed the ball cleverly down in the Bury penalty area, for Ryan Taylor’s shot to be defected just wide of Cameron Belford’s post.

Three minutes later Ronnie Moore’s Millers ramped up their onslaught and, with the Bury defence floundering and Belford in no-man’s-land, Le Fondre headed what looked like a certain goal only for Tom Lees to volley the ball away before it crossed the line.

Ironically, it was defender Lees who spurned possibly Bury’s best chance to snatch a goal of their own – firing just wide from close range after captain Seven Schumacher had delivered a delightful free kick in the 59th minute.

Bury’s best chances in the opening period fell to Andy Bishop who fired straight at Rotherham keeper Andy Warrington after a misplaced header from United defender Johnny Mullins fell into his, and Kyle Bennett’s shot which rippled the side netting from a tight angle seven minutes before the interval. Knill’s side played the better football on a difficult pitch after the interval and Schumacher was unlucky to see his shot teed up by a clever touch from Sodje fly just wide of the post.

Peter Sweeney forced a fine save from Warrington on 69 minutes, but Belford also had to be at his best as first Le Fondre and then Nicky Law went through on goal.

Bury failed in their bid for a fifth straight win, but this was definitely a point gained on a difficult surface, and their defensive fortitude bodes well for the end-of-season run-in.

Rotherham United: Warrington 6, Tonge 7, Cresswell 6, Mullins 7, Kennedy 7, Marshall 6, Law 6, Taylor 6 (Harrison 6), Thomas-Moore 7 (Daley 6), Taylor 6, Le Fondre 7.

Subs not used: Ashworth, Warne, Henderson, Bradley, Annerson.

Bury: Belford 8, Picken 6, Sodje 6, Lees 7, Skarz 6, Bennett 7 (Haworth 6), Sweeney 7, Schumacher 7, Worrall 7, Bishop 6 (Holroyd 6), Lowe 7.

Subs not used: John-Lewis, M Jones, Branagan, A Jones, Harrop Referee: David Webb (Lancashire).

Attendance: 4,620 (665 visiting fans).