Manager Keith Hill has described what he’s been looking for in his new recruits, having completed the loan signings of Ethan Ebanks-Landell and Ethan Hamilton on Friday afternoon.
Hill believes the duo fit the type of “DNA” that’s going to be needed between now and the end of the campaign.
“I’m looking for character, personality and ability,” said Hill.
“From a technical point of view, you want the players to be comfortable in and out of possession, but in the situation we find ourselves in, attitude, personality and character are big components of what we need during the last 19 games of the season.
“Both acquisitions meet the requirements I feel as though we need going into the 19 games. It’s 19 games, 19 battles and 19 wars, if you like. We have to have a fighter’s mentality. We need technical ability within that fight and we need clear thought going into every battle, as well as a plan. It’s 19 games and we know the points we need from those 19 games. There’s no panic, there’s a realisation of where we are. We are in a similar position to where we were last season but nothing is lost yet.”
He continued: “We’re working really hard on securing our League One status, starting with 19 games.
“When you’re losing football matches, it doesn’t mean that you’re defeated. It means that you should be learning to improve, not only as a manager but also the players themselves. They’ve got to learn from the mistakes that they are making as well as from the good things that they are doing.
“The mistakes will benefit them individually in the long-term like we’ve seen before when we have allowed players to make mistakes in our first team and they’ve gone on to play in the Premier League and the Championship where they have been very successful. That’s the way we do things – we are a League One Crewe Alexandra, if you like. People will have a go at for me saying that but that’s what we are. We are a League One Crewe Alexandra without a training facility or the investment in the Academy that Crewe are putting in but we are doing the same thing by trying to give young players opportunities and creating players’ futures for them at Rochdale Football Club, and it has been very successful for us.
“I’m just looking forward to the games that we’ve got coming up. It has been a hectic Christmas/ New Year period but we’ve only got one focus now, which is retaining our League One status. We’ll do that by being on the front foot and by being positive. We’ll do that by making sure we deal with the ups and downs of the remaining 19 games and we’ll get judged after 46 games.”
Watch the full interview on iFollow.