Brian Barry-Murphy was delighted that his players got the rewards that their play deserved in Saturday 3-2 win at Tranmere Rovers.
A brace from Ian Henderson and a debut goal from Rhys Norrington-Davies earned all three points for Dale in the season opener.
“I thought it was a good game,” said Barry-Murphy.
“Initially in the game, Tranmere put us under a lot of pressure, which we expected, and we weathered that storm early on and started to grow into the game.
“We had to work extremely hard to get to 3-0 and there was no doubt in my mind that Tranmere would throw everything at us.
“When you’re on the pitch and concede two goals quickly, it can be very hard to keep the opposition at bay, and I was delighted with the resilience our lads showed.
“Some of our movements were very good. Within that, the balance between attack and defence was quite good. The third goal was exceptional from our point of view.
“We were patient and that’s something we’ve been working on constantly. You don’t always get the goals your play deserves, so it was very rewarding for the lads to get that goal.
“We could have lost today and be here with sad faces! The way we played today has been something we’ve been working on for a period of time and something we believe that we can evolve and get stronger with.
“The challenge for our players is to be consistent, which we haven’t been for a long period of time, but we believe we can be.
“We’ve spoken about the dedication of the lads during pre-season. You always want the players to get the rewards that they deserve, and today we got the goals that our play deserved. We got the rewards for their hard work and it was a very good performance from our guys.”
The Dale boss also spoke about the backing his players received from the 938 fans that travelled to Prenton Park, labelling it as “incredible”.
“We got an expectancy that there was going to be a large number yesterday, and the numbers were huge really.
“The support away from home has been incredible and it gives the players an enormous sense of what they’re representing.
“The backing was constant, especially early on in the game when we were defending really deep and had to because of the quality of Tranmere. They were right behind us and it was noticeable how much of a lift it gave to the players.”
Meanwhile, Barry-Murphy also confirmed that right-back Ryan McLaughlin missed the win through injury.
“Ryan received a tackle against Bradford City last week which was a problem. We didn’t think it was a problem during the week, but it’s flared up against yesterday and he had to miss the game.
“Hopefully it will be a short-term injury. We’re very confident of having him back, if not next week, then the week after.”
The full interview is available to watch on iFollow Dale. Click HERE to subscribe for exclusive content!