npower League Two: Fleetwood Town v Rochdale
Highbury Stadium, Saturday 6th April, 3pm kick-off
Rochdale are back on the road this Saturday as they face Fleetwood Town for a third time this season.
The teams have already met twice this campaign – once in the league, the other in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. On both occasions the game ended in stalemate.
The match at Highbury Stadium is Dale’s second away trip of the week following Easter Monday’s 2-1 win over Exeter City at St James’ Park. The victory over the Grecians meant Keith Hill’s side secured four points out of an available six across the Easter weekend after the 1-1 draw at home to Aldershot Town on Good Friday.
Saturday’s opponents are two points better off after the busy Easter schedule after score draws against Gillingham (Saturday) and Southend United (Monday). The points keep the Cod Army, who are in their debut season in the Football League, within touching distance of the play-off places. They currently sit eighth in the division on 60 points, three points behind seventh placed Exeter who have a game in a hand.
The match will see Skipper Peter Cavanagh and striker George Donnelly go up against their old club, while the Dale front line could face off against former Dale loanee Ryan Edwards who is now onloan at Highbury from his parent club Blackburn Rovers. David Ball, who twice spent time on loan at Spotland, is also at the Cod Army as well as former Daley's Dave Lucas, Alan Goodall and Rob Atkinson.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Tony Bates
Assistant referees: Mark Dwyer and Glen Hart
Fourth Official: Neil Sharp
LAST MEETING
October 27th 2012: Rochdale 0-0 Fleetwood Town
Rochdale were forced to settle for a point against ten man Fleetwood Town when the Cod Army paid a visit to Spotland in the league back in October
Despite dominating for the majority of the match, Dale were unable to break the deadlock in match which saw Rochdale miss from the spot, and the visitors reduced to ten men in the second half after Alex Marrow was sent off for a second bookable offence.
The goalless draw was the second encounter between the two sides this season after they met in the first round of the Johnstone’s Pain Trophy the month before. That also finished in a draw after 90 minutes (2-2), but Dale went through to the next round of the competition with a 4-2 penalty shoot out win.
You can read the match report from the previous encounter HERE.
Admission prices for the match at Highbury Stadium can be found HERE.
Pre-match interviews Manager Keith Hill and Captain Peter Cavanagh are available to listen to on DALE PLAYER.