Manager Brian Barry-Murphy looks ahead to Dale’s League One fixture against Wigan Athletic at the Crown Oil Arena…
Rochdale head into the match on the back of Tuesday night’s 4-4 draw with Charlton Athletic.
“The mood has been pretty good - we’ve been recovering from the Charlton expedition,” said BBM.
“We got back into training on Thursday and we’re very much looking forward to getting back on our home ground on Saturday and taking on Wigan.
“After Tuesday's game, it’s all rest until a Thursday and then even a Thursday and a Friday are very light sessions in preparation for a Saturday.
“We haven’t got a big squad so the amount of rotation and players we can use is limited. Luckily from Tuesday night, we should have nearly all the players available that we had then, so it’s just trying to make them as fresh as possible.
“It’s not always easy when you are travelling those distances but the lads are in great spirits as you can imagine after that type of display, and we can’t wait to get into the next game.”
It has been a rollercoaster of a week for Dale, with the result against the Addicks coming after a 3-3 draw with Crewe Alexandra a few days before.
“It was different circumstances against Crewe where we had to go through the depths of despair after losing 3-0 at half-time, to then against Charlton when we were really on the front foot and in front, so we got both sides of the coin in terms of having to deal with that emotionally.
“The players showed that they were equally adept at both scenarios. It’s healthy to have that in our locker in terms of our memory bank, that we know with the games coming up thick and fast, no matter what we encounter we can deal with those set backs and keep coming back. Hopefully we can get in front on Saturday but if we don’t, we know we can come back and put in another performance like we have been doing.”
Rochdale and Latics last met just a matter of weeks ago, with Dale coming out 5-0 winners at the DW Stadium in December, but BBM says he and the players are just focused on this weekend’s encounter.
“They’ll be [Wigan] intent on making up for that and putting it right. I think there have been quite a lot of changes [to their team] and likewise for ourselves, so I think the relevance of that game is questionable.
“It’s a game we’re focused on in terms of our own performance. We’re aware of the opposition but very much focused on what we can do and to try to be constant in the way we do things.”
Watch BBM’s interview in full on iFollow.