Manager Keith Hill spoke to Dale Player following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to league leaders Bristol City...
Aaron Wilbraham’s fifteenth minute bullet header saw the league leaders snatch three points from a game in which Dale had enjoyed the majority of the possession, had played some excellent football, asked all of the questions and had limited the Robins to just one notable opportunity – their goal.
Speaking after the game, Hill said he was proud of his players’ performance.
“I think it’s the best losing performance that I’ve been involved in. We created opportunities and it wasn’t as though we stuck men behind the ball to suppress the opposition.
“We’re a very good footballing side and we probably should have converted maybe two of those glorious opportunities, but they’re the small margins over 90 minutes for Rochdale against Bristol City.
The margin between the two clubs over 46 games and season upon season is massive, but today I’m really proud of the way that we played. I’m disappointed with the result because I think we should have got something from the game.
“I don’t think Steve Cotterill will argue too much about that.”
Hill continued: “They’re an excellent side but we came to play today and we came with no fear. We tried to score and we took one or two risks with our defensive strategy. We gave them a lot of space in behind because we were keeping the ball so much, but I thought we defended excellently and my goalkeeper in the second half could have either gone for a jog around the stadium, or I could have possibly substituted him for an outfield player, because he wasn’t involved at all," laughed Hill.
“They score from a set piece and it’s a really, really good header because he’s arguably going away from goal – I think he’s finished it superbly.”
The full interview is available to view on Dale Player.