Rochdale are on the road for the first time this season as they make the trip to Chesterfield’s Proact Stadium on Saturday.
Dale head into the encounter following Tuesday night’s Capital One Cup first round defeat to Preston North End. The weekend’s opponents also exited the competition after losing 5-3 in extra time to Huddersfield Town.
Manager Keith Hill will be without the injured Matty Done (ankle), Skipper Olly Lancashire (groin) and Jack Muldoon (groin) for the fixture, while Hill’s counterpart, Paul Cook, will be without centre half Liam Cooper, who joined Leeds United for an undisclosed fee on Thursday.
Ahead of the match, Hill told Dale Player: It’ll be a very difficult game. Cookie (Chesterfield Manager Paul Cook) sets his team up superbly well.
“They’ve just lost Coops, who is a good centre half, to Leeds. It’s difficult when you’re losing players, especially players you consider to be your key components of your squad, but he’ll deal with it.
“Nothing will change in the way that they want to play, whether it’s against us or Leyton Orient.I have a lot of appeal and applause for the way that want to play the game and it will be competitive.
“They had a great opening day fixture [against Leyton Orient where they won 2-1] and they were probably unfortunate during the week against Huddersfield being 2-0 and 3-1 to the advantage, but that’s the way the games can go against you when you’re playing against high quality opposition.
“I’m looking forward to the game.”
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Carl Boyeson
Assistant referees: Andrew Fox and Steve Rushton
Fourth Official: Lisa Rashid
LAST MEETING AT THE PROACT
Tuesday 21st January 2014: Chesterfield 2-2 Rochdale
It was a night to remember at the Proact in January as Dale came from two goals behind to grab a point deep in injury time.
It looked like Dale would be heading for their first defeat since New Year’s Day, but a 90th minute penalty from Ian Henderson, coupled with a stoppage time header from Peter Vincenti, ensured a dramatic come back for Rochdale.
Gary Roberts had put the home side ahead in the 39th minute, before Marc Richards doubled their advantage with 67 minutes on the clock. Dale’s never say die attitude and fighting spirit was prevalent as Keith Hill’s side struck twice late in the game to deny the Spireites three points.
Henderson pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the 90th minute after Richards was adjudged to have handled on the line. He was shown a red and Chesterfield were reduced to ten men. The momentum was with Dale as they went in search of what had seemed like an unlikely equaliser, and Vincenti was there to smash home a last minute corner.
You can watch highlights of the game on our official YouTube channel by clicking HERE.
TICKET INFORMATION
The match is pay on the day. You can find admission prices HERE.
MATCH COVERAGE
Live commentary coverage of the game will be available on Dale Player, with the programme getting underway at around 2.50pm. Not got Dale Player? You can sign up HERE.
We’ll be tweeting live from the game via @officiallydale There will be key updates on the Dale Wall. You can access the Wall by clicking HERE.
FANCY A FLUTTER?
You can check out the matchday odds HERE.