Manager Keith Hill spoke to Dale PlayerHD following his side’s 3-2 win over Shrewsbury Town.
He gave his thoughts on the entertaining encounter…
“It was a rollercoaster first half. I thought the second half probably belonged to Shrewsbury, but I thought we defended their runs and their penetrations well in the second half,” said Hill.
“There was a lot of drama but it was psychological drama and I had to reassure the players at half time. We delivered three knock out punches in the first round and at the end of the day we still won on points. I had to remind the players at half time that we were winning 1-0.
“Like I said to the players a couple of weeks ago, you can’t get involved in the opposition’s desperation and chaos that they were trying to create – they were trying to create it through the referee at times in the first half.
“It was a difficult game, there’s no question about that and Shrewsbury have caused us more problems going forward than any other team this season.”
He continued: “But I was reasonably happy. I got the start that I asked for and that we had planned for, and it’s just the middle ground that we have to improve on. The players have to be able to work things out for themselves at times because we’re just in between at the minute.
“I think you saw the best of us and maybe the slight worst of us after we conceded the first goal, because like I said, we can’t let the desperation of the opposition and a little bit of anxiety feed into performances.”
The full 7-minute interview is available to view on Dale PlayerHD.