Nottingham Forest are the visitors to Spotland this Saturday as Rochdale start the New Year with an FA Cup third round tie against the Championship side.
Speaking ahead of the fixture, Assistant Manager Chris Beech told Dale Player: “To be in the third round for consecutive years is really good news for the football club.
“This will be our fifth game in the competition with the re-plays in the first two rounds so the boys have deserved their opportunity to get a draw against a real established football club and we got one in Nottingham Forest. They’ve got a very good team and the boys know that they’ve got a right good challenge on their hands.
“We’re playing a different calibre of opponent – for the difference of League Two to League One the jump is as big from our league to the Championship. We’re talking about five million pound players playing against us on Saturday. That’s the difference of the financial clout of the two clubs but we’ll definitely give 100-percent in what we’re looking to achieve.
“We’re at the half way mark of the season and it has been a good start. It has been backed up by a great opportunity in the third round of the FA Cup.”
And Beech has called for supporters to be the twelfth man on Saturday.
“In the last couple of years we’ve given our supporters a lot to shout about and we’re really thankful of that support.
“The way we go about our business is very sort of viral. It’s in everybody and everybody understands what we want – the club does and the youth policy does – so it’s a real close movement that we’re trying to achieve and it’s going to get tested to the fullest tilt on Saturday. We will need the supporters to help us achieve that. We understand that we’ve got to do our part but we’re looking for that support and we’re looking for the players to produce.
“As I have said before, I’m very grateful of the support from the fans and as we move into 2015 we’re looking for that twelfth man on the side of the pitch. We’ll really need them this Saturday.”
The full interview is available to view on Dale Player.