We only have the tenth highest budget - Coleman

"In reality we should have had a wages budget or £500,000 or £600,000, but who is to say that crowds wouldn't have dropped to 2,500 if that had happened?" said Coleman, who set his base for players salary to a million pounds for the current campaign.

"People don't realise that if the matchday crowd drops by only 500 then that represents a loss of £7,000 on the gate and up to £10,000 through less spent at the ground. That adds up to a massive amount over a season.

"It's a balancing act. You can cut your wages budget at one end but lose supporters at the other.

"We also have to pay 17.5 per cent of everything that comes in to the taxman. That means that £3.50 of every £20 taken at the gate goes in VAT."

Notts County's 1.7 million pound budget sees them sit third bottom of the division, although the main question on Rotherham fans lips has been why the transfer money for Will Hoskins and Lee Williamson has failed to get them through until the end of the season as promised.

Watford still owe Rotherham £100,000 if they get back to the Premiership whilst the two players are under contract at Vicarage Road.