Manager Robbie Stockdale on Dale’s 1-0 defeat to Crawley Town…
“I’m very disappointed in many aspects of the game,” said the Gaffer.
“I didn’t feel that we played as well as what can in terms of ball possession was sloppy. It lacked a killer instinct. It has been a story of many games this year where we’ve had nearly moments and we don’t get quite the shot away or the cross is blocked or the set-piece isn’t quite right.
“That being said, it’s a mistake that’s really hurt us. The goal against is poor - nobody needs to make a mistake. Nobody is going on the pitch to try and mess up and make an individual error, but at the moment the situation is that those are really hurting us and we don’t seem to get those opportunity or chances. That’s my main takeaway [from today].
“Saying that, we’ve got to do the basics and the fundamentals of football. I spoke to the players there - I’ve been fortunate to play and work at the highest level and done the same at the lower levels, and the basics of football are always exactly the same.
“Top players are top players because they do those basics every single week and players who aren’t top players don’t do those basic fundamentals every week.
“It’s a really difficult moment, really difficult. It’s up to me to try and steady the ship. We’ve got a huge game now on Tuesday and we need to take the anger, the hurt, the disappointment and all those feelings that we all have and put it into something on Tuesday to get a result.”
Watch the interview in full on the club’s YouTube channel.