Goals in the first half from Tom Eaves and Kieran Agard saw the Millers progress to the area semi-finals 2-1, but for most of the evening a below par performance saw them over run by a lively and in-form home outfit and only a string of saves from Adam Collin kept Rotherham in it.
“I think luck played its part in us getting a win tonight, we won’t kid ourselves as they played us off the park at times,” Evans told Millers Player afterwards.
“We showed great effort and desire in the last 15 minutes after our performance was poor, our ball retention was poor and our whole defence and shape didn’t look right tonight.
“Hartlepool are a club in fine form and you can see why but we’ve come here and limped through to the next round. If I’m being honest I think Saturday’s display against Bradford played a part in that, some players still looked fatigued.
"It’s not an excuse but these players are known for their hard work and battling on the front foot which they haven’t really done tonight against a Hartlepool team with good players.”