Manager Keith Hill spoke to Dale Player following Tuesday night’s Capital One Cup second round tie against Hull City at the KC Stadium.
Rochdale were excellent against the Championship side, but exited the competition to a ninth minute Greg Luer goal.
Speaking after the match, Hill commented: “The lads and the football club come out with a lot of credit for the way that we that we played the game against, what I still consider to be, Premier League opposition, apart from the first 12 minutes or so where we looked as though we got caught in the head-lights.
“You’ve got to give respect to the opposition but I think we gave too much respect and space. We slightly misinterpreted the tactics, but once we got past that stage I thought we were excellent value for at least a draw.
“I just reminded that lads that last season we got beat 2-0 off Preston and we came off the pitch to a lot of congratulations with respect to the way that we play having lost the game. A couple of months later we played Preston at home in the league and beat them 3-0 and got accused of being a long ball team, so ultimately it’s about winning and not just looking good in the dress rehearsal. That’s all tonight was.
“It’s a cup competition that not too many take seriously, but I think the lads have come out with a little bit of glory from the way that they played.”
Rochdale struggled to break out of their own half during the opening exchanges of the game as the Tigers looked to attack Dale from kick-off. After Hull City opened the scoring in the 9th minute, Hill was quick to change personnel around, which paid dividends as his side more than matched the Championship outfit.
“Once we made the change we secured the centre of the pitch,” said Hill.
“Jamie Allen and Ian Henderson, dropped a little bit deeper so I could get Calvin [Andrew] in the centre of the pitch. We started pressing and we kept the ball, and for me, we had enough penetration to have scored, but again, when you’re playing against sides like Hull, you have to take and make the most of those opportunities and we didn’t. For me, there will be plenty of club’s that come here this season and don’t score, but I think that there will be a few teams, if they came here and played like that, and got beat then they’d be disappointed like we are.”
The full interview is available to view on Dale Player.