Brian Barry-Murphy hopes the support his side had at Burton Albion can continue over the Christmas period.
Dale were beaten at the Pirelli Stadium but the manager praised the travelling fans ahead of an “exciting” part of the season.
“I can’t wait to get into the games around Christmas,” said Barry-Murphy.
“I think it’s a great time for everybody, the players and the supporters alike. The supporters who were at Burton were amazing.
“We were poor in the first-half and they would have been entitled to show their frustration, but the support was constant and the noise was unwavering. They were willing us towards the goal, but it just wouldn’t come for us, which was indicative of our afternoon.
“Hopefully, the supporters can be with us in as many of those games as possible over the Christmas period.
“It’s a very exciting part of the season for us and our main focus is very much on the players that we have with us. We want to get them all on the pitch at the same time and give the supporters what they want to see on Thursday.”
Following Saturday’s game, the Dale boss gave an update on the fitness of Ian Henderson and Aaron Morley who missed the game, as well as Ollie Rathbone who had to be withdrawn in the first-half.
Ollie had a slight problem with his groin, which is a different injury to what he’s had before. He’s just at that stage of the season where he’s having problems with his physical conditioning.
“Whilst we try to get him back, we have to be mindful of the fact that we have to protect him, and we just couldn’t take any chances with him having been absent for so long.
“Ian had a dead leg after the challenge on Monday night and they can be quite sore. He was in no fit state to be involved today, but he’s made a lot of progress in the last couple of days, so heading into Thursday and the weekend, he should be close to being in contention.
“Aaron had a slight issue with his thigh in training on Thursday and it was just a slight fatigue after the game on Monday night [at Boston United].”