Steve Evans warns Rotherham must stop Millers' old boy Lewis Grabban to try and halt Norwich City.

Evans' sanctioned Grabban's departure to Bournemouth a month after taking over at Rotherham following a prolific spell that brought 21 goals in 43 starts. Grabban has continued in the same vein since moving to Carrow Road, with his sixth goal in last week's 3-1 Championship win over Blackpool. Evans only briefly worked with the 26-year-old in south Yorkshire but he knows Grabban is a class operator.

'We ended up with a good deal out of that,' he said. 'I thought he was a very talented boy. I desperately tried to keep him here, but he had his reasons why he wanted to be in the south and he came and asked me if we could help address that and let him go. I'm the same with any player. It doesn't matter if you're Lewis Grabban or (Lionel) Messi. If they don't want to be around then you're better off without them.

'We got a fantastic offer from Bournemouth and we got a fantastic sell-on when he made his move to Norwich. I said to Bournemouth when we sold him, 'This boy could go to the Premier League' and that deal netted us probably close to a million pounds at the end of the day. It was good business if you're Rotherham United.'

Evans, however, is confident his Millers' backline can thwart Grabban in the same manner Jordan Rhodes fired blanks for Blackburn in a midweek 2-0 league win.

'He's a tremendous young man. I still keep in touch with him. I promised I'd text him every time he scored and last season it seemed I was texting him every Saturday night,' said Evans. 'We said with Jordan Rhodes against Blackburn Rovers we hoped he went home pointless and goalless and we're hoping Lewis leaves Carrow Road pointless and goalless on Saturday night. That could mean it's been a good day for the Millers.

'He can play wide on either side, he can play down the middle or as a second striker. I'm not going to build him up to be Pele, but I think he's a wonderful talent.'

Evans believes Grabban is just one part of an enviable strike force at Neil Adams' disposal.

'When you look at the quality they've got for each position and the back-up, Gary Hooper, who I think is an exceptional striker, has just come back from injury and they sit top of the league,' he said. 'They can play the likes of Cameron Jerome and Lewis. Neil must be given a lot of credit for putting that squad in place. They're one hell of a side.'