Georgie Kelly’s eye on Championship tilt with Rotherham

Georgie Kelly wants to work his way into Rotherham’s promotion bid in the coming weeks.

The Tooban man signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Rotherham last week and wants to play his part for the League One leaders.

Rotherham are, a point ahead of Wigan Athletic in League One, are eying promotion to the Championship.

Kelly, who was the PFAI Player of the Year in 2021, scoring 26 goals for Bohemians, can’t wait to get going at The Millers.

"I think I'll fit in really well here,” Kelly said.

“It’s a club that will suit me. It won’t be easy, I know it will be a challenge, I am coming here to work and learn, I have a good bit to go yet in terms of where I can get to, hopefully I can improve over the next couple of months.

"It's a big jump and this is a really competitive league, I am looking forward to seeing how I can fit in and how I can cope with the step up.

Georgie Kelly - the accidental hero

Rotherham have a Football League Trophy semi-final to look forward to, but promotion is their big aim.

Kelly had no shortage of suitors since he made it clear that he was seeking a move away from the League of Ireland.

He said: "There's still a lot of games to play but looking at the league and the games, they are one of the favourites. It looks like we will give it a good go and push to get up again.

"That's a goal of mine, to try and play in the Championship. With the stature of this club, they are well capable of being a regular Championship club.

"I need to knuckle down first and focus on here, get better in the next few months and get up to speed, that's the priority and whatever comes after that we'll go from there.”

Kelly joined Bohs from St Patrick’s Athletic while he previously featured for UCD and Dundalk.

He said: "It was a good year last year, the couple of seasons before that I hadn't played as much, being second string in a couple of places, but I had a right go at it last year, played a lot of games and scored a lot of goals."

Rotherham manager Paul Warne has challenged Kelly to become a regular feature in the starting XI at The New York Stadium.

Warne said: “We think he could be one we have as a target-man going forward. He’s that type, who wants to get his head on crosses, he’s a willing worker and a bit of a gladiator.

“He’s a player we’ve watched since the summer, he had a good season in Ireland and he’s a bit of a warrior.

“We could always do with more goals and I think that potentially, Georgie could do it. He’s scored goals at a level, but this is with another step-up for him.”