Manager Keith Hill reflects on Dale’s FA Cup defeat to Huddersfield Town...
“You cannot afford to make the mistakes that we made for the first, second and third goals,” said Hill.
“The only goal that they've scored that I've got to applaud is the fourth goal, which is a typical Championship/ Huddersfield goal.
“But the three goals prior to that are mistakes, regardless of whether we're playing against Championship nous or we're playing against a Conference side. We haven't been making those mistakes until the last three games, and now we're conceding goals because of mistakes, not great goals.
“I can't fault the endeavour, the running power or the commitment to the plan, but ultimately we have to show a better skill level and better decision making or we'll lose games in our respective league.”
He continued: “It's human error. The 'Human League' spoke about it - we're only human, born to make mistakes. It's difficult because the players will start losing belief because we're goals that will saturate all your energy.
“The timing of the first goal and the way that it was contrived was totally down to ourselves. To give away a goal like we did can be deflating so we've got to stop conceding those types on deflating goals.
“I'm asking experienced players to manage the game better than they are doing at this moment in time.
“I was really pleased with the contribution of Mark Kitching. I thought he was excellent against a Championship side, after being thrown in at the deep end. We've had to deal with another serious injury, which I thought we dealt with well, but we can't shoot ourselves in the foot like we did.
“If that was a league game I'd be saying the same thing. We were playing against better opposition than League One and we were making mistakes, so it's no wonder we were beaten.”
Watch the full interview on Dale PlayerHD.