CREWE will be glad of their latest reinforcements when they head for a "must-win" clash at fellow strugglers Gillingham on Tuesday.

An afternoon of perspiration without reward against a Rotherham side vaulting back to the top of the table was always going to be a tough ask.

That the game was ultimately settled in a second-half minute when Scott Robertson's red card was punished further by a streaky goal from the resulting free kick shows there is still plenty of life in the Alex's relegation battle.

But Dave Artell will be hoping the new faces he signed in a flurry on Friday afternoon and evening can inject some much-needed quality in the defensive flanks and up top.

Both were areas that Crewe were found wanting as the Millers flexed their promotion muscles with a second win at the Mornflake Stadium in January.

Tariq Uwakwe, Ryan Alebiosu and Dan Agyei were not signed in time to feature in this afternoon's game, but another new recruit Bassala Sambou offered a promising cameo off the bench in the closing stages.

Uwakwe and Alebiosu could offer some solutions on the left and right of defence where Mikael Mandron again found himself out of position, while Travis Johnson limped out of contention early on after an unconvincing showing against the pace of Chiedozie Ogbene.

Midfielder Robinson, pressed into wing-back duties, fared better but still couldn't handle the Rotherham flyer who drew a second yellow card for the on-loan Celtic youngster who headed down the tunnel in a second half marred by assistant referee Paul Stonier being hit by a coin apparently thrown from the away fans section in the Ice Cream Van Stand.

After a lengthy hold up in play, the official retired following a second delay, complaining of dizziness.

Rotherham have pledged to find the "culprit" and punish him and both Paul Warne and his counterpart Artell were appalled at the latest missile-throwing incident to hit English football.

Alex boss Artell said: "Football is an emotional game but anyone who throws anything at an official needs to give their head a wobble. It is not acceptable."

And Warned declared: "It's embarrassing. If it was one of our fans and it has been seen by CCTV then the culprit should be punished.

"I apologised to the four officials and our captain [Richard Wood] went over as well as to see that he was all right too."

It was an ominous start for Crewe as they came under early pressure and fell behind in the seventh minute. Smith's run behind wasn't tracked and the frontman was in behind in a jiffy to finish off a precise cross from Ramani Edmonds-Green with his head.

Then the Alex goalmouth led a charmed life when Smith flicked a corner onto the underside of the bar with Billy Sass-Davies clearing his lines.

But after a poor opening 20 minutes Crewe fought back against a side well prepared to embrace the dark arts with Michael Ihiekwe and Wood in the referee's book for a couple of cynical challenges near the halfway line.

Chris Long wriggled clear of his marker and the Millers were on the backfoot only for the frontman to lash his effort over.

Robertson caused ripples of anxiety down the visiting left with a run and low cross soon after arriving to the fray, but the ball just fell out of reach of a red shirt.

Long also wasted a promising dart down the left side of the box by attempting a shot from a difficult angle and keeper Josh Vickers made an easy save.

The second-half developed into a war of attrition and while Crewe were in their half more than the visitors the game was by no means settled until Ogbene's pace did for Robertson and further punishment was exacted from the set piece with former Crewe loanee Dan Barlaser's low delivery nudged over the line by Smith via a post and possibly even a touch off Dave Richards.

Rotherham's leading scorer will be claiming it, though, and he was aiming for a hat-trick in the closing minutes and nine of added time as a result of the two hold-ups, only to drift a header from a free kick wide of the far post.

While the Yorkshire side are on a different level, Crewe now need to ensure they make the most of theirs at the Priestfield Stadium in midweek.

Artell added: "Every game is important now and we've got to go to Gillingham on Tuesday and win the game.

"We gave the league leaders two goals, our game management wasn't good enough but at 1-0 down we were still in it – Rotherham had no other chances [apart from the goal] in the first half for all their territorial dominance.

"But the sending off turned the game in their favour. We let them have a tap-in from the free kick. We made some poor decisions that handed them both their goals."

Crewe: Richards; O'Riordan, Sass-Davies, Offord; Mandron, Lowery, Murphy, Finney (Sambou), Johnson (Robertson); Long, Porter (Ainley). Subs: Jaaskelainen, Griffiths, Lundstram, Salisbury

Rotherham:Vickers; Edmonds-Green (Harding), Wood, Ihiekwe; Ogbene, Barlaser (Lindsay), Wiles, Rathbone, Ferguson; Grigg (Kayode), Smith Subs: Johansson, Odoffin, Miller, Ladapo

Attendance: 5,014