Manager Keith Hill has praised the impact that his new recruits have on the squad during their time with Rochdale so far.
The two Ethans, Ebanks-Landell and Hamilton, scored for the side on Saturday, earning Dale three points at the Banks’s Stadium.
“It gives your players a lift when you have new players coming in who are of the calibre of both Ethans. I believe they’ve made us stronger,” said Hill.
“There was a lot of negativity towards us selling the players that we have done, but I believe we’ve improved the squad and our opportunities of staying, at least, in League One, with the recruitment of those players.
“We’ve been working so hard to get through the run of games in January, and today [Saturday] was a really important game for us looking at the previous three of four games, including the last game at Barnlsey, because I thought we deserved more from that, and that’s why I went with the same side, but this was a really important game for us with respect to psychology.
“The players that we’ve brought in have done really well for us and I’m really pleased with the impact that they’ve made, as well as psychologically on the players that we’ve also got at the Club.
“I think the belief has been growing on the training pitch with performances, but not results. We don’t panic at being in the bottom four. I pre-warned the players before we dropped into the bottom four during the week that we’re quite comfortable there, so enjoy it and express yourself.
“I’m pretty pleased with the response from the players and the fact that they were quite calm in what could be a drama situation, because we try and create no drama. We dealt with it really well last season and we’re trying to deal with it again.”
Watch the full interview on iFollow.