Manager Keith Hill has been looking ahead to Saturday’s fixture v Southend United, in his latest Dale PlayerHD interview.
The Shrimpers currently sit ninth in the division after adapting well to life in League One following promotion last season.
“You get that momentum,” said Hill.
“When we look back at the previous leagues, then teams who get promoted get that momentum, there’s no question about that.
“Phil [Brown, Southend United Manager] has experienced it before where he got Hull City promoted because they had an unbelievable season in their first season back in the Premier League but it’s how long they can maintain and sustain it for. You can only maintain and sustain that success with investment.
“I watched a programme last night about the Class of 92 who were taking over at Salford and Ryan Giggs basically said that in the football world that if you pay the best players the best money then you should be finishing top. And that’s how simple football is, apparently,” smirked Hill.
Rochdale head into the match on the back of three consecutive goalless draws and has taken positives from that.
“The balance is retaining League One status because this club has never been in the league for three successive seasons. We’ve got a history of being a League Two club and we’ve got to change that to make sure we’ve got a history of being a League One club.
“The balance of play, with respect to the last three games, is that it’s always better to keep clean sheets than draw a game 2-2 or 3-3. We will score goals, we’ve created goals and we’ve seen where we can improve on that. It’s the first time that I’ve probably gone three games without one of my sides scoring a goal but the positive for me is that at least you’ve kept the point that you had before the start of the game.
“The Coventry game was a real excitement, the Bury game was a bore draw and Saturday’s game against Oldham went a similar way to the Bury match.
“And if you look at the Manchester derby at the weekend, it was terrible to watch because there was so much at stake between two sets of fans and two sets of players. Sometimes that’s what gets thrown up in a derby and I think if Lewis Alessandra had converted it might have brought a little bit more excitement to the game because Oldham would have had to come out.”
Rochdale were in action on Tuesday as they faced Burnley in a closed doors game. Hill was extremely pleased with the performance as Dale recorded a 5-2 win.
“It was superb.
“It was a great spectacle from a Manger’s perspective. All the players were fully inclusive with desire, effort, commitment and drive.
“We played against an excellent Burnley side but the score-line reflected the way that we played. I’m not overly concerned about the score-line because the performance was exceptional, with one or two of the players being outstanding.”
The full interview is on Dale PlayerHD.