Manager Robbie Stockdale looks ahead to Dale’s Sky Bet League Two fixture away at Mansfield Town…
“We’ve got lots of players on the training pitch, which is always a positive,” said the Gaffer.
“We go into a big week with the three games in that period, so making sure everyone is up to speed. It was also nice to have had a free week in preparation for the game at Mansfield.
“It gives you more time to work on the tactical side of things and it also gives you an opportunity to maybe not work the players as physically like they might have if they had a game on a Tuesday, so that’s always a bonus as well.
“I know everybody will be looking forward to the exciting tie that we’ve got coming up on Tuesday [against Burnley], the sole focus, which we’ve hammered home to the players all week, is Mansfield - that’s the most important game because it’s the next one.”
On the game at the One Call Stadium, the Boss commented: “[I’m expecting] a tough game.
“I think they, from the games I’ve seen on video, have been better than what their position suggests.
“I know they’ve struggled with a few key players being out injured, so it’ll be a really, really tough game and another one that we’ll have to be at our best for to get a result. I think that’s the same for any team in this division - if we’re not at it, then it doesn’t give us our best chance to win.”
Dale head into the unbeaten in the last six but Stockdale says he’s looking for momentum to continue.
“It’s confidence building. It’s emphasising the messages we’re giving to the players that at this moment in time it’s working. We’ve done nothing - we’ve literally done nothing yet.
“Of course it’s nice to build that momentum but we want to carry that on, we want to improve and we want to get better so that’s the sole focus like I say.
“Complacency is a killer - I don’t see it in the squad and there’s no reason to have that, so I’m demanding the very best again from them.”
And the Gaffer confirmed that Corey O’Keeffe, on loan at Dale from the Stags, is ineligible for the game.
“We’ll obviously miss Corey because he can’t play against his parent team, but, other than that, it’s a clean bill of health.”
Watch the manager’s pre-match interview in full on the club’s YouTube channel.