Leeds United loanee Harry Gray's four-word message after first senior goal as 'huge impact' highlighted
The 17-year-old joined Rotherham on loan from Leeds United earlier this month.
Out-on-loan Leeds United youngster Harry Gray has been praised for making a ‘huge impact’ at Rotherham after scoring his first senior goal in a 2-1 midweek win over Northampton Town.
The Millers welcomed their League One relegation rivals to the New York Stadium on Tuesday night needing to arrest an 11-game winless run. For much of the 90 minutes, that looked set to become 12 games without victory after a first-half opener from Northampton’s Tom Eaves - but Gray had something to say about that.
The 17-year-old, making his third start since joining Rotherham on loan from Leeds this month, brilliantly headed Joe Powell’s cross in at the near post on 58 minutes to open his account in senior football and make it 1-1. That finish sparked a comeback too, with fellow January arrival Emmanuel Adegboyega winning it late on.
A massive victory has renewed optimism at Rotherham and relieved the growing pressure on manager Matt Hamshaw. The Millers are now just two points from safety and have Leeds loanee Gray to thank for leading their midweek comeback charge.
“We’re a bit low on confidence, on a run of defeats and then all of a sudden we get a bit of a spark,” Rotherham boss Hamshaw told the PA news agency. “Harry scores his first senior goal which is amazing for him and it couldn’t have gone better with Manny [Adegboyega] scoring.
“They’re two players we’ve brought in this window and they’ve made a huge impact. It’s just nice to win a game of football but we’ve got to build on that. Let’s just enjoy it tonight because it’s been rough few weeks for us all.”
Gray also shared his reaction to the goal and result on social media, sharing a video of his perfectly-placed header on his Instagram story. Alongside the clip, he simply wrote “Camonnn huge 3 points”.
What else has Harry Gray said on Rotherham loan move?
Elland Road chiefs will hope that opening senior goal is the first of many for Gray, who arrived at Rotherham with no shortage of confidence but will be boosted by making an instant impact. The teenager had found the net against non-league opposition as part of Leeds Under-21s’ National League Cup campaign but now has an EFL strike to his name.
“It's good to have pressure,” Gray told the Rotherham Advertiser earlier this month. “If people are relying on you to score goals, there's a reason for it. You've got to provide. For me, it's just about scoring and helping the team, playing regular men's football and doing what I know I can do.
“You have to take it as a positive that people are rating you highly. They're doing it for a reason, I've got to prove to everyone that I'm actually that good. Rotherham was the right place for me to go to because I knew I'd be playing games. It was going to be a good opportunity for me to score goals, and I felt trusted.
“The manager's been telling me I'm going to play every game and stuff like that. It's what you need to do at this age. He knows what type of player I am and what he's going to get from me.”