Manager Keith Hill has three new injury concerns ahead of Monday’s League One fixture v Port Vale at Spotland.
Olly Lancashire was unable to start Friday’s match against Preston North End after sustaining an injury during the warm up, while Joe Bunney and Scott Tanser picked up injuries during the game.
Hill says he’s looking forward to the Easter Monday clash against the Valiants, despite the injury worries.
He told Dale Player: “We’ve got three players who are probably going to be unavailable and who maybe shouldn’t have completed the 90 minutes [on Friday].
“Oliver Lancashire won’t make the game and I don’t think Joe Bunney or Scott Tanser will either, so we’re already three players down from what is already a small squad, but it represents an opportunity.
“I believe that we’re safe on 56 points and we’re still chasing the dream. It’s a good game for us and we’re looking forward to it.”
Rochdale head into the match following Friday’s narrow defeat to Preston North End. Dale gave a good account of themselves at Deepdale and Hill was pleased with the overall performance.
“The margins are huge but in a game over 90 minutes they’re small. You can see why they’re second in the league and challenging for the top spot,” said Hill.
“They get in the lead and they’re defensively solid – the amount of times our strikers were caught offside in the first half was excessive. We had a genuine goal disallowed but that’s the flow of the game sometimes.
“We had an opportunity in the second half - Ian Henderson’s header - but the game almost meandered towards submission because they’re so relentless. They sort of lock you down and they almost put you in a sleeper.”
He added: “We played tremendously well in the first half and we had to accommodate a change late in the warm up with Oliver Lancashire, but I don’t think that affected us at all.
“I thought we were absolutely superb, but the goal was a poor goal and we can’t be charitable like that. Defenders defend and they spot danger and they deal with danger, and that was one of only a couple of dangers that Preston represented but they got the game won and that’s why they’re in second place and challenging for first space.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Simon Grayson [Preston North End Manager] and the way that played. That's game know how and knowledge and we’re trying to catch up with that.
“We were narrowly beaten but a million miles away.”
The full interview is on Dale Player.