Manager Brian Barry-Murphy reflects on Dale’s 2-0 defeat to Hull City at the KCOM Stadium…
“The result is very disappointing. The performance from the players - they gave absolutely everything. On Saturday I commented that I didn’t feel as if we could reach the intensity that we needed to compete with Burton, but our response to that defeat and how disappointed we were with it physically was very good," said BBM.
“We had good control of the game with loads of possession, correctly we want more from that possession and more from attacking intent in the final third, but we are very, very short in that area of the pitch. I felt as if we could have been better there still tonight at creating chances but they are a very resolute side who defend the blocks very well and over the course of the season they have scored many goals from situations like tonight, but we’re disappointed with both goals.
“Overall the application and the appetite from the lads was brilliant and we know going forward if we can repeat that over and over again we’ll finish the season very well.”
He continued: We’re very clear on what we have to do in the upcoming games and for the rest of the season. The level of performance that we produced on Saturday was very disappointing for everybody and we wanted to put that right as soon as possible.
“The level of performance from our lads in terms of effort and commitment tonight was brilliant - we can play a lot better in terms of our attacking play but we are missing a lot of attacking players, and that’s not an excuse, it’s just a fact.
“We are missing Jake Beesley, Matthew Lund, Stephen Dooley, Jimmy Ryan in midfield and Jack Vale who was brought in as a striker. We are in a position as a club where we can’t replace those players when they are missing. Like I said, it’s not an excuse, it’s just a clear reason as to why we may find it difficult to score goals at the moment. We’re doing everything we can to create chances by pressure and committing men forward - we did that tonight but we just couldn’t score.”
Conor Shaughnessy was sent off with 12 minutes left to play after receiving a straight red card, reducing Dale to ten men for the final stages of the match.
“I had no problems on Saturday with Ollie’s red card even though he was provoked, but tonight I have a problem with it because I don’t think Conor is reckless and I don’t think he’s out of control. I think he has tried to tackle with one foot on the ground and one foot on the ball which gets the ball.
“I understand referees are a little bit anxious when they see players going towards the ball at speed but he remained in control. I’ll be very keen to appeal it but I know history suggests that appealing these decisions can be a waste of time at times.”
Watch BBM’s post-match interview in full on iFollow.