Manager Keith Hill has been speaking about the importance of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy ahead of Tuesday night’s area quarter final match against Chesterfield.
Dale face the Spireites at the Proact Stadium after seeing off Port Vale in the last round.
Hill is expecting a tough game against fellow League Two opposition.
“It’s a difficult fixture,” Hill told Dale Player. “I said in my post match analysis after the Chesterfield game [when the sides met at Spotland in the league] that they were the best team that we’d seen this season. I still think they are and it’ll be a stern test for us.
“It’s an important tie because it gives smaller clubs like ourselves an opportunity to be successful in a cup competition and it’s chance for a manager and a team to really have a chance of maybe getting to Wembley. It also represents progress in the cup competition and it could re-affirm the confidence within the football club at this moment in time.”
Hill made four changes for Saturday’s FA Cup match against Torquay and he says that he will also make changes on Tuesday night.
“It took me most of last week to get to where I wanted to get to for Saturday. I picked two sides last week in pursuit of the Torquay game and the Chesterfield game and bearing in mind the Morecambe game on Saturday.
“I’ll go with the side that I picked and I’m more than comfortable in doing that and the players will be too.”
The full interview is on Dale Player.