Manager Keith Hill has praised the “siege mentality” of his players ahead of Saturday’s League One fixture against Fleetwood Town at the Crown Oil Arena.
Rochdale go into the match having beaten Northampton Town and Millwall over the last seven days and Hill believes there’s a fighting spirit amongst his squad.
“We’ve got a lot to challenge for this season,” said Hill.
“Our season isn’t just about the Tottenham game, it’s about making sure that we make the most of our opportunities in the League One campaign to make sure we give ourselves the best chance of avoiding relegation.
“It seems unlikely at this moment in time, but there’s a real fighting spirit amongst the players and that’s where the unity will give us our best opportunity of surviving.”
Although Dale have secured three positives results in succession, Hill isn’t getting carried away.
“The spirit is good. There’s also a siege mentality amongst the players and the group but the group have got to keep responding to the challenges. And we’ve got no bigger challenge than this weekend’s game against Fleetwood.
“It’ll be a difficult game, because Fleetwood are always very competitive. Uwe [Rosler, Cod Army Manager] is doing a great job there, and like I said, it’ll be a very, very difficult fixture for us.”
Due to Dale’s progression in the FA Cup, Hill’s side still have 19 league games left to play this season and have up to four games in hand over the teams in and around them in the League One table. But Hill is very relaxed about the fixture pile-up.
“It’s no concern of mine – the games have to be played and it beats training.
“We could definitely be the slow burner, the one who everybody takes their eye off and then all of a sudden, we’re there, right in front of them, so that has got to be our mentality. We have to pick up points and we have to be in every game, because we now can’t afford too many off games.”
Watch the full interview on iFollow.