Manager Keith Hill has been looking ahead to Sunday’s FA Cup tie v Aldershot Town at the ESS Stadium...
The Shots booked their place in the second round of the competition following a replay win over Portsmouth, and Hill is expecting a difficult encounter against the Conference side.
“I think everybody expected Portsmouth to come through as victors but Aldershot did and they’re going to be a difficult proposition, but one that we’re looking forward to. I said after the Northampton game in the last round that we’d go anywhere to play in the FA Cup because it’s a special competition.
“It’ll be a test, but we’re hoping to come up with the right formula to get through to the next round, which will give us something to look forward to just after Christmas.”
Hill has a selection headache ahead of the tie due to an illness which is affecting the squad, but he says he’ll aim to come up with a winning formula.
“With respect to the state that we find ourselves in now due to illness, it limits me [with regards to team selection], but we’re going to try and come up with a formula with the players that we’ve got to win the game against Aldershot.
“It’s a difficult ask – it’s very difficult to win any football match regardless of who you are playing against, but I’m encouraged with the players that I’ve got at my disposal, regardless of the injuries, the suspensions and the illnesses, but we really have to be representing ourselves with our strongest 14 players on a regular basis.
“We have a lot of players who are developing on the training pitch who aren’t quite ready but I have been using one or two of them and will have to continue to use one or two of them because that’s just how it is.
It’s very difficult for a team like Rochdale to sustain the momentum that we generated up to and including the Preston game with what has happened, but they’re not excuses, they’re reasons.”
The full interview is available to view on Dale Player.