He and Joe Powell were standing over the ball 25 yards from goal in the 87th minute at Northampton Town last week with the scores locked at 1-1.
Would it be the right boot of Benno or the left peg of Powelly?
Benson said something to his teammate. Debate over.
Seconds later, the midfielder’s stunning effort arced beyond Town goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons into the back of the net and the Millers had their first League One away points of the season on the board.
“You have a conversation, don’t you,” said manager Matt Hamshaw. “Joe says to him: ‘Is it right foot or is it left foot?’ Josh replies: ‘It’s 2-1.’ Joe was like: ‘What?’ and Josh said: ‘This is going in.’
“A little bit of me likes it. You have to back yourself and he certainly does that!”
Twenty-five-year-old Benson has a Premier League pedigree with Burnley and a Championship one with Barnsley and only a chequered fitness record is keeping him in the third tier.
That’s to the League One Millers’ advantage as the talented summer signing is starting to come good – really good – after being sidelined in the early stages of the campaign by an ankle issue.
“He’s obviously been unfortunate through his career with injuries,” Hamshaw said. “Who knows where he could have got to had he not had them.
“That, I hate to say it, is probably one of the reasons why we ended up getting him. He’s got amazing ability. He does things in training that are unbelievable.
“Josh always wants the ball. He can be a bit sulky sometimes if he doesn’t get it. That’s something that I’m on top of him about and, to be fair, he’s getting a lot better at not being like that.
“To be honest, he reminds me a little bit of myself when I played. When I look back now, I was sometimes a little bit too cocky and too arrogant at the wrong times.”
After a smattering of top-flight outings with Burnley, Benson moved to Oakwell in a seven-figure deal in 2021 and was restricted to 95 matches by a succession of ailments.
Rotherham took a gamble on him as a free agent, giving him a one-year deal with the option of a further 12 months after he’d shown enough physical mettle during a trial period that included two goals in two games.
He’s started the last three league matches in an attacking role and has been a man-of-the-match contender in all of them.
””His work rate has been good,” Hamshaw said. “I think you’re seeing a player who’s back enjoying his football. That puts a smile on my face.
‘Anything else he can improve on?’ I asked, and the manager couldn’t resist a touch of verbal irony.
“Yeah, he lacks a bit of self-confidence, does Josh.”
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