Head of Academy Coaching, Rick Ashcroft, spoke to Dale Player following Tuesday’s win over Preston North End.
Dale recorded a 2-0 victory over the Lilywhites and Ashcroft was pleased with the overall performance.
“The players managed the game. We restricted them [Preston] to minimal chances and shooting on the edge of the box, and we created a lot. It’s just the final decisions or the final touches in the final third that have let us down for it to be a little more convincing. It was a difficult pitch and a difficult day so I think over all it’s quite pleasing.”
He continued: “They’ve played short when we could play short and sometimes we had to go a little bit longer at times because of the way Preston played and the pitch.
“We tried to do the right things, we controlled a lot of the game and I’m happy with the performance levels. The management of the game was very good, but the final third is a bit more work in progress.”
Several postponements mean Dale have 12 league games left to play before the season finishes mid-April.
Ashcroft is looking forward to the run-in.
“We have two games a week over the next few weeks and there are 12 games to go in the league. Hopefully we can build momentum with a big push towards the end of the season and see where it takes us.
"We’re straight back on the horse on Friday (away at Accrington Stanley) and if can get a few good results then we can put ourselves right back in the mix.”
He added: “There are a lot of dynamics that come in at this time of year - decisions, indecisions, second years wondering about their futures etc. We’ve got a tight squad but I know we’ve got enough within our squad to push if it all comes together like it has done today.
“We’ve got to make sure that we keep momentum on and off the ball and marry them together. That will give us a real opportunity to see where it takes us and hopefully that might be a successful finish to the season.”
The full interview is available to view on Dale Player.