Manager Keith Hill has praised the performance of his players following Dale’s 0-0 draw with Luton Town at the Crown Oil Arena, hailing it as tremendous.
“I enjoyed watching it – I thought it was tremendous,” said Hill.
“It was a marvellous display for any neutral watching. It’s the way football should be played.
“With respect to the team, the identity, the way we played, the courage that the players showed both in and out of possession and the goal scoring opportunities we created, I’m really pleased. We didn’t covert those opportunities, that we have to convert, but we kept a clean sheet, which gives us a valuable point.
“If I get that energy with the way I want to play, the we’ll upset a few teams. I want that honesty, and we got that again today.”
Hill had suggested pre-match that he might make wholesale changes for the match but instead made just one change for the game, with Ollie Rathbone missing out through injury.
“Ollie Rathbone is injured so I had to make that change.
“I’m working with a good group of players – they are great players to work with. I think we can do very well in this league with this group of players if they show more ambition and nature on a daily basis, and that’s my only frustration.
“But when we get to matchday, I support them in every way I can with respect to the team that I’ve selected and the tactics that we use. They’re an honest group that are working on behalf of the football club, the supporters and me. I could have made changes but Ollie was injured and it only seemed right to just jig about with it a little bit. I know where Stephen Dooley can play – he can play everywhere accept in goal.”
Dan Adshead was on the bench for the match, having recovered from the ankle ligament injury that has kept him sidelined since last month.
“We had Ollie Rathbone and Andy Cannon injured. Dan was due to play for the Youth Team on Saturday in preparation for Wednesday’s game against Leicester, but I had to pull him out of the Youth Team due to the injuries we got yesterday in training and during the week, so looking at moving Stephen Dooley if I needed to, I think Dan is the perfect replacement to play in midfield as a number eight and maybe push Stephen Dooley wide if I had to, but with the game at 0-0, I didn’t feel as though I needed to do that, so that’s why Dan was on the bench today.”
Watch the full interview on iFollow.