Jake Beesley discusses his return from injury…
The Dale forward was back in the starting eleven at the weekend, having recovered from damaging his metatarsal away at Doncaster Rovers in January.
"It has been a bit frustrating this year for me with injuries," said Beesley.
"I had the concussion [after sustaining the head injury away at Plymouth at the start of December] and it kept me out for three weeks, but I came back and started to get going again and scored against Wigan. Then at Doncaster I ended up breaking my foot, so it has been frustrating but I’ve just been trying to work hard with the medical staff, the physio and Ben [Ekins] and Gibbo [Kevin Gibbins] to get back fit and ready.
“There’s no good in letting an injury get you down - it’s not going to help you in any way. You just to need to focus on your rehab, do it as best as you can and try to get back in as little time as possible, which I have tried to do.”
Beesley played the full game against Peterborough United on Saturday, going straight back into the starting eleven due to Ryan McLaughlin picking up a slight niggle in training on Friday. The 24-year-old went on to score on his return to the side, putting Dale level with a few minutes to go.
"On the Friday Becks [McLaughlin] had picked up a little knock. I wasn’t expecting to start the game but then I thought I might have a little chance when he was struggling so I just tried to get into my head that I’d give my all for as long as I could and see where I’d go from there. I actually felt better in the second half than I did in the first half. I grew into the game and got my second wind a bit so I was glad to get through it.
"It’s always nice to score a goal. The ball broke to Doney who had a great touch and put a great ball in. He’s hung it up lovely and I’ve just had to try and leap up at the defender and try to get it on target. Thankfully it managed to creep in."
And Beesley says the players take a lot of confidence from recent performances and results.
“It [Saturday] was a good game of football and, in the end, we were disappointed not to win it but at half-time I think we would have taken a point. We played well in the second half and we got ourselves right back into it and went ahead. It was obviously disappointing to concede the equaliser but because of how we played, the boys feel confident that we can kick on from here and go on a good run."
Dale are now back in action on Good Friday due to the international break, having had four players called up for international duty. With 10 games to be played between then and the end of the season, Rochdale have a busy end to the campaign, including eight games in April, but Beesley is relishing it.
"We would have had games coming thick and fast if it wasn’t for the international break but it gives us time to train hard, get fitter and work on stuff on the training ground. We’ve got important players out injured, so not having games will help them get closer to coming back so it could benefit us.
“As a player, I love playing games so when they come Saturday, Tuesday, I love getting in that routine of playing, recovering and then playing again, and I’m sure a lot of lads are the same as that. If we play like we did on Saturday and like the lads have done over the last few weeks, then I’m sure we’ll have a great run in."
Watch Jake’s interview in full on iFollow Dale.