Rochdale AFC

Morecambe are the visitors to Spotland on Tuesday night as the two teams meet for the third time this season.

The Shrimps made the trip to Rochdale last month in the league, and return on Tuesday for the FA Cup with Budweiser First Round Replay. The initial tie at the Globe Arena ten days ago ended in a 1-1 draw forcing the match into a replay at Spotland.

Shrimps goalkeeper Barry Roche was the difference between the two sides on the day and pulled off several fantastic saves to keep his side in the competition. Dale started slowly allowing the home side to take the lead on 12 minutes through Andrew Flemming but John Coleman's side soon took control of the game and posed a threat in the final third. Goalkeeper Roche pulled off a handful of top drawer saves, while the cross bar also denied Dale on the day. The breakthrough finally came on 71 minutes when Jason Kennedy fired home on the re-bound from an initial George Donnelly strike and despite continued efforts to find the winner, the match finished 1-1.

Both teams will be buoyed by their respective results at the weekend with the two teams recording a victory ahead of the fixture. Morecambe were 4-1 winners over Barnet at home, while Dale secured three points from a trip to Wycombe with a last gasp goal.

Speaking after Saturday’s encounter at Adams Park, Manager John Coleman reflected on the win and looked ahead to Tuesday night’s FA Cup clash.

“We’ve got to give Wycombe their due. They took the game to us after we took the lead and they could have scored three times before they scored so fair play to them. They pressed us back and I think they were the better team in the first half. Second half we were a lot better and in the end we probably deserved to win,” said Coleman.

“We had a couple of half chances, a couple of blocks and if you keep peppering their goal in the second half, which we did, then eventually it will turn for you. I feel for them [Wycombe] because when you’re scrapping for your life and trying to get wins, things come against you.”

He continued: “I think what we’ve shown is that there is a lot of character there, there is a lot of fight and there is a lot of will to win. We’ll give it our best shot every time we play and we’re not going to roll over to anybody. We’re disappointed if we don’t perform to the best of our ability and we were disappointed in the first half but thankfully we made something of it in the second half.”

And Coleman is expecting a tough encounter against Jim Bentley’s Morecambe this Tuesday: “It’s going to be another tough game. They [Morecambe] must be full of confidence and full of beans because they’ve had a smashing win and scored four so it’ll make for a good game. There’s a good prize at stake with a trip to Coventry in the second round so we’ll give it our best shot and see where that takes us.”