First Team Coach Lee Riley believes the experiences from the previous two cup games will help Dale be competitive against Coventry City.
Brian Barry-Murphy’s side travel to Birmingham City’s St. Andrews to take on Coventry, who currently sit sixth in the division.
And Riley is looking forward to the occasion in a "brilliant stadium".
“Tuesday night was a really productive evening for us,” he said.
“More so than the result, it was the performance of the players, and the integration between the younger players and the more senior players.
“Those games create a really good feeling around the squad and the staff.
“The behind-closed-doors integration games can do that too, but even more so when some of the younger players get to play in the proper competition games like the Leasing.com Trophy.
“The last two games have been cup fixtures, which are one-off games.
“It’s good to get back into league games, and it will be a really competitive game for us.
“We know we’ll be playing against a really, really good side, at a brilliant stadium, so it’s one that we’re really looking forward to.
It’s a great place for the players to go and play. There seems to be loads of unbelievable venues where we’re playing, which probably says a lot about the league that we’re playing in.
“It’s something for all of the players to look forward to and hopefully go and embrace.”
Full-back duo Luke Matheson and Rhys Norrington-Davies will miss the trip through international commitments, whilst Ryan McLaughlin and Ollie Rathbone will miss out through injury.
Riley however is remaining positive, as Dale try and juggle playing in three competitions in successive weeks.
“For us, the length of the injury list is unheard of, at the moment," he added.
“Luke played started again for England yesterday, which is great for Luke and for us.
“Rhys has a game on Tuesday for Wales, so we’ll be without those two again this weekend.
“The pleasing thing is the other night was the younger lads playing, but also some of the senior boys who doubled up on Sunday’s game at Wrexham to go again on Tuesday and support them.”
Watch the full interview with Riley on iFollow Dale HERE.