Dan Harding's first goal for Albion could also just turn out to be his last.

That is the stark financial reality facing the Seagulls, which manager Mark McGhee referred to following a valuable second Championship victory in seven matches.

Harding has been offered but not signed a two-year extension to his current contract, which expires at the end of the season.

The stalemate between club and player seems sure to remain unresolved by the time the Premiership transfer window re-opens in the New Year.

Several clubs, notably Everton, are monitoring the situation and it is not unreasonable to believe Albion may well receive a bid in January for the England under-21 leftback.

The Seagulls will have to sell or risk a fee being decided by a tribunal once his contract runs out, unless Harding is prepared to stay put and wait. All of which brings us, inevitably, to Falmer.

Harding can hardly be blamed for his reluctance to put pen to paper at this stage. If you were in his shoes, would you sign before the stadium saga is settled?

The uncertainty over Albion's future is, after all, the very argument used by chairman Dick Knight for being unable to enter into detailed negotiations with any of the 14 team-mates of Harding whose contracts also end next summer.

Neither party would be to blame if Harding ends up leaving. He could not be criticised for wanting to further his career, while Albion need the money. Since being selected by former manager Peter Taylor as a young international, Harding has become the club's most saleable asset.

Of course, they do not want to lose a promising player nurtured so expertly through the youth system by Martin Hinshelwood and Dean Wilkins but, financially for the moment at least, they are in a similar boat to clubs like Crewe, who have made a living out of producing and selling young players.

Unfortunately for Albion, the transfer window comes before the public inquiry into Falmer re-opens. If the Seagulls receive a decent offer from a big club for Harding then it would be very difficult, in the circumstances, to resist.

The biggest loser in all this would be McGhee. He would be without one of the young prospects he is trying to rebuild the team around and most of the money, which is bound to be swallowed up by Albion's financial crisis.

For the time being McGhee is grateful for the crisp strike from Harding with eight minutes left which broke the resistance of resolute Rotherham.

A free-kick from Darren Currie reached him beyond the far post and he drilled a low shot past Mike Pollitt.

"It was a terrific finish," McGhee said. "That is not something he is renowned for and I think the lads will rib him a little bit. He is a good player, an England under-21 now, and I suppose we should be expecting a player of his ability in that position to at least hit the target.

"We haven't at the moment got a star striker ripping people apart and therefore part of our ploy is to try to get extra people forward who don't get picked up and cause the opoosition uncertainty.

"I thought Dan did that well. He got forward from wingback and eventually getting a goal was a bonus. I think he can do more going forward for us, but there isn't much that gets past him defensively. That's why he is playing for England-under 21s at leftback."

Harding revealed: "Dean White (coach) was telling me the whole game to get around the back post and luckily it came off. In the first half I didn't get forward as much as the gaffer wanted and he told me to push on a bit in the second half.

"We passed Ipswich off the park the week before but didn't have anything to show for it. This shows we can also grind out results. We have improved so much since we were last in this division and we are just happy to get a home win."

McGhee decided to adopt the 3-5-2 system which worked so well at West Ham and Ipswich at home for the first time.

Leon Knight returned to the starting line-up at the expense of Richard Carpenter, with Currie moving into the middle of midfield.

Currie's distribution was not quite up to its usual high standard but, to his credit, he never stopped wanting the ball and taking responsibility.

The tight pattern of the contest between two low-scoring teams was entirely predictable, even more so because Ronnie Moore chose to match McGhee's formation, but Albion fashioned enough chances to make them worthy winners.

Knight, bright throughout, set up a shot and header for Steve Claridge in the opening 15 minutes. Both were saved by the dependable Pollitt, who also parried a 30-yard swerver from Currie in the first half.

The only thing missing from Knight's performance was a much-needed goal. He went close three times after the break, notably when dragging a shot wide of the far post from a free-kick taken quickly by Paul Reid.

Doomed Rotherham never looked like scoring and McGhee was justifiably satisfied with Albion's seventh Championship win, all of them 1-0.

"We are thrilled," he said. "We were grateful for the fans' patience as well because it's easy in a game like that to get a little bit restless."

  • ALBION (3-5-2) Kuipers; Hinshelwood, Cullip, Butters; Reid, Oatway, Nicolas, Currie, Harding; Knight, Claridge. Subs: Mayo, Hart, Carpenter, Hammond, Roberts
  • Booking: Knight (86) dissent
  • Scorer: Harding (82)
  • ROTHERHAM (3-5-2) Pollitt; McIntosh, Swailes, Scott; Stockdale, Barker, McLaren, Vernazza, Hurst; Butler, Junior. Subs: Proctor for Barker (withdrawn 85), Campbell-Ryce for Junior (withdrawn 72), Gilchrist, Minto, Montgomery
  • Bookings: McIntosh (42) foul, Proctor (90) unsporting behaviour.
  • Attendance: 6,076.
  • Fans' View: SORCHA HOGAN (Horsham) I was struggling to keep my eyes open in the first half but it livened up later. We never seemed to keep possession for long so perhaps we needed another combination or the players need to improve on their teamwork, but who am I to argue with the manager? At least we got three points as it could easily have been a draw.

JU HALL (Southwick) Although it is a bit of worry that he still is not hitting the net, Leon Knight looked up for it and contributed a lot. Dan Harding was magnificent, looked every inch an England under-21 international and took his goal beautifully. Dan has said in The Argus how much he loves the club and wants to stay, so I really hope he sticks to that.

DAVID MORGAN (Burgess Hill) Danny Cullip is a strong leader who won everything in the air. We need some more creativity in midfield, someone like Albert Jarrett, with Jake Robinson or Maheta Molango on the bench as Gary Hart is really an attacking midfielder.

PAUL DOSSITER (Rotherham fan) It was another game that could have gone either way but as usual we ended up on the wrong end of the result. The goal we conceded was very disappointing, although the lad (Harding) certainly stuck it away well. There have been a lot of great escapes throughout football history but we need a miracle to stay up.