Robbie Stockdale says he wants his side to have more consistency in their performances, ahead of Saturday’s match at Sutton United.
Dale saw a four-match unbeaten run come to an end at Carlisle United on Tuesday night, a game which had followed a 1-0 win over second-placed Northampton Town.
“We want the players to have a certain consistency in their performance,” said the gaffer.
“When they’re not quite on their ‘A-game’, what can they do in the game to get themselves through.
“We can’t be going from one extreme to the other all the time. We have to get some kind of consistency and level balance to our play that gives us a chance in every game.
“I thought at Carlisle we were dominant for the majority of the match but if you don’t take your chances, and you concede in the way that we did, it makes it very difficult.”
This weekend’s opponents Sutton sit fifth in the table, in their very first season in the Football League.
“It will be a tough game. It’s my first time going there so I’m looking forward to it.
“In terms of what they do, they’re very physical, very compact, they have a certain way of playing but do it very well.
“First and foremost, we need to stand up to the physical challenge and if we do that, and impose our style of play on the game, it will be a good match.”
The gaffer confirmed that Max Taylor, who missed Tuesday’s game at Carlisle, will be out for at least two weeks, whilst also providing updates on Paul Downing and Josh Andrews.
“It’s similar to what we had for Tuesday. No fresh injury concerns, really.
“We were missing Max Taylor on Tuesday. He took a bang in the Northampton game here and we’re looking at maybe two-to-three weeks out with him with an ankle injury.
“He did well to finish that game, I didn’t actually notice the injury take place, but after the game his ankle was swollen up. He’s had the scans and we’re expecting him to miss two-to-three weeks.
“Paul is back on the grass doing the next stage of his rehab. We haven’t seen Josh yet, he’s due to come in to us in the next seven-to-eight days.
“He’s doing his rehab at Birmingham, but he’ll still be a fair way off being match-fit. There might be some opportunities for him to play Under-23s games for Birmingham to build up his fitness.”
Watch the full interview with the gaffer below via our YouTube channel.