KEITH Hill believes his opening game as Wanderers boss will see him go up against one of League One’s most formidable outfits.

The Whites are at Rotherham this afternoon, backed by 2,500 fans in a sold out away end with supporters ready to welcome in Hill’s new era with assistant David Flitcroft.

Like Bolton, the Millers are back in League One after relegation last season but the sides have very different ambitions this time around.

Third tier survival would represent a remarkable achievement for Wanderers while their hosts later today are looking to bounce back with promotion as they did in Warne’s first season in charge in the 2017/18 campaign.

It hasn’t been straightforward for the Millers boss thus far though, Rotherham 15th in the early league table and looking for a first home win of the season at the third attempt.

“They’re a good side and established in League One,” said Hill.

“I know they got relegated but I think there’s a purpose to the way they’ve done things.

“The bridge between League One and the Championship is huge now, unless you’ve got huge amounts of money to spend, and they find themselves back in League One but they’ll be one of the big hitters.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Paul and his coaching team, and we’ll go there knowing what to expect but positive.”

For Hill, going up against one of the sides tipped to be at the right end of the division will give him a clearer picture of how his new-look side might fare in the weeks and months to come.

With nine new signings brought in on a frantic deadline day to help the youngsters who battled manfully in the opening weeks of the campaign, to say it will be a new-look Wanderers that takes the field at the New York Stadium would be an understatement.

“There’s a certain amount of anticipation to see what we’ve got,” said Hill, who will been in the job for a fortnight when he takes charge of his first official game.

“We know what we’re looking at on the training pitch, we’re excited but there’s an unknown quantity as well, after the 90 minutes we’ll know what we can do against very good performers in League One.

“We’re optimistic, we’ve done as much as we can on the opponents, but it’s as much about us putting certain processes into action. And if we see that we’ll be very happy.”

While Whites fans will be hoping to see Daryl Murphy, Liam Bridcutt and others in action, one new arrival will not be involved.

Left back Joe Bunney, who worked with Hill at Rochdale, was involved in a serious car crash in the early hours of last Sunday morning which left him with broken ribs and collarbone.

The 26-year-old was in the Preston area of the M55 when his Vauxhall Mokka careered into the central reservation of the motorway and then into a tree.

“He’s still in hospital, “ said Hill at his press conference on Thursday.

“We’ve not got too much information other than he’ll be injured for a substantial amount of time so he can’t be in my thought processes, with respect to selecting sides, that’s over to the medical team and we trust them to get the players fit when and where they’re available, to get them on the training pitch, then it’s over to us to get them up to speed and fit for the matches.

“But Joe Bunney will be out for quite a substantial amount of time.

“I think (physio) Matty Barrass is due to see him over the course of the next two or three days.”