Manager Keith Hill spoke to Dale PlayerHD after Saturday’s goalless draw with Oldham Athletic at Spotland.
It’s Rochdale’s third goalless draw in succession after Dale shared the points with Bury and Coventry City, respectively, in their last two outings.
The clean sheets follow a run of four games in which Hill side’s conceded eleven.
“The defensive problems were individual mistakes but it steeps into the spirit and the confidence of the team. One thing we have done is defended absolutely superbly for the majority of the season,” said Hill.
“A lot has been affected over the course of the last four or five weeks and we’re trying to re-build again. I think it has been evident in the last three games with the clean sheets.”
He continued: “I think the game was destroyed by an over-active whistle. There wasn’t an awful lot in the game.
“We had one unbelievable outstanding chance in the first half. Strikers make mistakes and you don’t lose points but if defenders make mistakes then you lose points, and at the minute, if you consider Tuesday as well and probably against Bury last Saturday, then I think our strikers are making mistakes in front of goal, which can change the outcome of the game.
“We didn’t get the same energy from Tuesday night that I wanted in the passing, but again, we were playing against different opposition, who were doing things differently to Coventry and one or two of our players couldn’t work it out.
“That’s where I’m trying to encourage and promote players to gain experience to see things and work them out as quickly they possibly can.
“But in the grand scheme of things, nil-nil, it’s another point and we’ve kept a clean sheet. I’m sure that our strikers will catch up on the goal scoring exploits.”
The full interview is on Dale PlayerHD.