Manager Keith Hill is expecting a “difficult” game when his side face Torquay United at Plainmoor on Tuesday evening.
The Gulls currently sit bottom of the Sky Bet League Two table, but Hill says neither he or his players will be underestimating their midweek opponents.
He told Dale Player: “We’ve got to remain focused and we’ve got to work as hard in every game as we have done in our previous 34 games. That’s important for me because performances will come as a result of the hard work and the endeavour. Torquay will be a big, big obstacle and it’s a difficult fixture. It’s an away fixture during the week, which has it’s problem with respect to travelling, tiredness and an excessive amount of time of the road, but everybody has to do it. We’re going fully focused and fully respectful of the opposition, and it’s going to be a really, really difficult game.”
Hill will be without the injured Scott Hogan and the suspended Ian Henderson for the fixture, but has ruled out any new additions ahead of the match, having plenty of options to choose from.
“The players who haven’t been in the squad and the players who have been on the substitutes bench are really well prepared. We had a closed doors game against Manchester City during the week at Platt Lane and it was tremendous.
“There are players who are one hundred percent ready. George Porter is ready, George Donnelly is ready and Graham Cummins is ready. Bastien Hery and Callum Camps are ready, as well as Joe Bunney, Ashley Eastham and Rhys Bennett. They’re all ready and I will play them. I don’t feel as though I need to upset the ambiance of the changing rooms and what we’re trying to achieve with the players that have been with us for the majority of the season by recruiting players.”