Jim Bentley was left frustrated after his side were beaten 2-1 at home to Hartlepool United.
After going behind in the first-half, Ian Henderson dragged Dale level on the hour mark, only for Callum Cooke to score the winner with a free-kick ten minutes from time.
“I thought in the first-half we were nervous and lacked quality,” said Bentley.
“I thought they shaded possession and tested our goalkeeper more, but we got into the better areas.
“We got down the right sides but we just couldn’t find that final pass that we had spoken about to create opportunities.
“The goal we conceded – we deal with the first phase and then the second phase comes in, their player gets above two of ours and wants it a bit more and puts it in the back of the net. Is that hard luck or is it not good enough?
“For me, it’s not good enough. There’s no hard luck about that. That should be do or die. That’s got to be out of your six-yard box.
“We’re too easy to play against and we lacked character. We shouldn’t be going 1-0 down in that situation.
“Credit to the players though because they showed character at the start of the second-half.
“But it couldn’t be any worse so they had to show something – it was one way or the other.
They reacted in the right manner and they got out of the blocks. There was only one side in it and we were well on top, and deservedly got the goal.
“But then again, we let them off the hook with a lazy foul and we give them an opportunity to have a shot on our goal. It’s avoidable.”
Watch Bentley’s full post-match interview on YouTube below.