Brian Barry-Murphy says he is delighted to still in the Emirates FA Cup second round draw after a stalemate at Wrexham on Sunday.
Both sides had chances in the first round encounter at the Racecourse Ground, and the Dale boss was pleased with how his side defended in earning a clean sheet.
“I’m delighted to still be in the draw,” said Barry-Murphy.
“I thought it was a very difficult game, at a ground that we thought would be. We got exactly what we thought we would get, and for large parts of the game we had to defend, and defend resolutely.
“I thought our defending was very good, and from my point of view it was a very good game to see how we coped with those elements.
“A large part of that element was the opposition, who I thought were entitled to play well and did play well. They gave us loads of problems, but we had chances of our own and phases of the game when we were good.
“I thought it was a good cup tie. The interpretation of a good cup tie can be different, but from my point of view, it just felt like a proper cup tie at a ground where we’ve seen plenty of them before.
“In any game against a team of this calibre, depending on how well they play, it’s going to be a difficult game.
“We thought parts of our game could have been better, but the opposition have a huge impact on that and they’re entitled to play exactly how they want to play.
“That gave us plenty of problems, but they were problems that we found a solution to, be it goalkeeping saves or defenders playing really well, and it’s a part of our game that we’ve been keen to see for a long period of time.
“To see it in evidence in a really important fixture is testament to the players, their development and how much they’re growing as a unit. That’s very pleasing for me.”
Watch the interview in full on iFollow Dale HERE.