Brian Barry-Murphy was delighted with the resilience and courage his players showed in Dale’s 1-0 over Wycombe Wanderers.
“I thought it was a really tough game,” said the Dale boss.
“It was exactly as I expected. Wycombe are a really competitive team and a great squad of players, so I knew it was going to be a really hard game.
“Pre-game, there was a lot of talk about how it was going to be a slow game and how we could take the initiative. I knew we could be fast starters. I’ve watched them loads and have huge respect for them.
“The game turned out exactly how I expected it from their point of view. Our performance in the first-half wasn’t good from a technical point of view, but from a courage and resilience point of view, we defended particularly well.
“Getting in at half-time 0-0 was good for us. At the start of the second-half we grew into the game and played the type of football we can play.
“I wouldn’t try to convince anyone that it was a great game of football, but I thought it was still an exciting game for the supporters and we gave them something to be proud of.
“I think both teams were very competitive. I thought Wycombe were fantastic in the first-half and they’ll go away wondering how they haven’t scored goals.
“We did defend with a lot of resolution and courage, we put our bodies on the line in key moments of the game, and that gave us a chance to go into the game in second-half where I felt much more confident in the way we were playing.
“I knew our lads would throw their bodies in front of everything and late in the game we looked relatively secure against a team that can cause a lot of problems late in games.
“I thought it was a tough game for a lot of our forward players. Even in the first-half when we weren’t fluid, Ian had a good chance from Ollie’s cross and Matty Done was almost through, but they had the same so it was a tough game.
“In the second-half we had a lot more action around the penalty area. It wasn’t free flowing football like we know we can do but we’ve played free flowing football in previous weeks and got nothing.
“There’s a lot for our players to take from the game and the courage we showed at all stages in the game was superb really.
“I left the celebrations to the players. They’ve worked hard all game. It’s very important that they’re proud of their performance. They showed amazing courage.
“The first-half wasn’t a great spectacle but the supporters were very patient with us and that’s all we can ask. Even when results go against us they’ve been very patient with us.”
Watch the full interview with Barry-Murphy on iFollow HERE.