Manager Brian Barry-Murphy reflects on Dale’s Emirates FA Cup first round tie against Stockport County at the Crown Oil Arena…
“It’s a very disappointing result for us in terms of the end result. I thought we played well for periods but Stockport put in a very good performance and, as much as we have enjoyed our days in the competition over the last couple of years, it’s important to respect what they’ve done today and wish them the best going forward.
“I thought we played well for long periods. The opposition score two quick goals in the first half - the first goal was obviously a brilliant goal and the second goal from our point of view is very disappointing. It’s something we’ve been working and conscious of, so that was very disappointing.
“Then you’re just looking at the reaction and applying the constants to how we want to play. We were pretty relentless in our attacking play, but when the opposition are defending so resolutely with so many numbers so deep in their own half, it can be hard to break down. I thought we broke them down on numerous occasions and created great chances but today we just couldn’t take them and, as such, we exit this season’s FA Cup at this stage.”
He continued: “In this moment you never enjoy the feeling of losing. I always say to the players that there’s no embarrassment in losing to a club or a team like Stockport. We have to do everything that we can to try and beat them but, at the end of the day, we haven’t been able to beat them today. As such, you have to take it on the chin and be man enough to accept that we kept going right to the final whistle. We can’t have all the days on our own terms and expect to do it our way all the time. Now it’s about understanding why we lost and trying to put it right every week.
“The lads are desperate to win and there’s always a perception when you play against teams from lower down that you don’t want to get beaten, but I said before the game that there was no fear of failure on our part. We were keen to progress and play as well as we could - I can’t say that before the game and act differently after it, it’s just the way it is. There are things we want to work on from today’s game but they are exactly the same things we would have worked on after a victory.”
Watch the full interview on iFollow.