Boxing Day’s match against Hartlepool United is a big game for both clubs, says Jim Bentley.
The Dale boss was speaking ahead of the upcoming festive schedule, which begins with the visit of Pools on Monday.
“We’re looking forward to a big game,” said the gaffer.
“We’ve said to the players that we’ve missed a couple of opportunities in our last two games.
“Against Sutton, who were in and around us at the time, we were beaten. Harrogate, who were certainly in and around us, we got beat.
“We’re playing another side in Hartlepool who we’re neck and neck with. It’s a big six-pointer type game for us.
“We’ve got to be flat out, give it our absolute all, learn from what went wrong against Harrogate, and at the other end we’ve got to start taking some of the chances that we’re creating.
“We are capable, we’ve tried to be positive, the players have trained well and there’s a good spirit amongst them. We’ve got to make sure when we go over that white line we have a good go and try to win the game.
“There are 20 games gone and 26 games to go, but we can’t keep saying we’ve got time on our hands, reality has to kick in.
“We’re playing against a team that aren’t having a great season, like ourselves. They had a good win last time out against Crawley Town and they have picked up one or two results since Keith Curle has gone in.
“Like every team, they’ve got players who can hurt you but they’ve got weaknesses as well.
“It’s a big game for both clubs and there’s no better time to win and try to put distance between ourselves and Hartlepool, and the other two teams who play each other on Boxing Day [Gillingham and Colchester United]. It’s a big day for the bottom four sides.
“It’s a busy festive period coming up with opportunities to get points on the board, but all our focus is on Hartlepool on Boxing Day.”