Manager Keith Hill reflects on Tuesday night’s win over Northampton Town, as well as looking forward to Saturday’s match at Adams Park, in his latest Dale Player interview.
Dale moved top of the Sky Bet League Two table following the 3-0 win over the Cobblers, but Hill says the players have their feet firmly on the ground.
“It [Tuesday night’s game] was a good performance, which was reflected by the result. It was a difficult fixture and if you look at what Chris [Wilder, Northampton Manager] has done since he has been at Northampton then you'll see that up until Tuesday night they had won three and drawn three of the last six games. They’ve put themselves in a position where they can avoid relegation, though they’re not quite out of it yet.”
Hill continued: “We’ve got a very good squad of players, a squad that we’ve had for most of the season, and one that we’ve put our trust in. We’re not looking to replace players if we have one negative result or we lose a game, we’re very much developing and we’ll continue that development as a squad and as a football club. I’m really happy with it and it’s all inclusive.
“We’re playing happy, we’re playing free, we’re playing with responsibility and nobody in those changing rooms has mentioned promotion. The focus is just on the next game, but I’ve got absolutely no idea what’s going to happen. I try and plan for what’s going to happen, but I’ve got no idea whether it’s going to happen or not.”
Dale face Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park this weekend and Hill is expecting a difficult encounter.
"I know Gareth [Wycombe boss, Gareth Ainsworth] really well,” said Hill. “He’s bringing young players through and I think he has gone into the loan market to add a little bit of experience. If you look at their form book over the last six games then they’re in the top six/seven, so they’ve turned their season around. He’s passionate and he expects the players to play with similar sort of values to the way I expect my players to play. We don’t play the league table, we play the opposition, and we’ll give them an enormous amount of respect. It’s going to be a very difficult game.”