Jim Bentley says Dale came up short in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Mansfield Town.
George Maris’ second-half goal proved to be the difference in a close encounter.
“We’re obviously disappointed as it’s a game we’ve lost,” said Bentley.
“Coming into these two games we’ve been upbeat and myself and Chaddy [Nick Chadwick] said it was important that we won one of these two games.
“Before a ball was kicked this season, Salford City and Mansfield were two of the favourites to be up there.
“Nigel gets good, solid outfits together. The power, the knowhow, the experience all in that group. They’re bringing on the likes of John-Joe O’Toole and Jordan Bowery, and we’re bringing on 15-year-old and other youngsters who haven’t played many games.
“I just think we came up short today. We had a go, we were disappointing in areas. The goal that we conceded was disappointing, because I think the main, against a big, strong physical side, who are the best in the division at how many balls they put in the box, we defended okay.
“We wanted six points, but we’ll take three. The slight criticism today is in that middle-to-final third. We’ve had opportunities to put players clean through and either overhit or underhit it. Ethan Brierley had a fantastic one and slipped unfortunately.
“We had a go, the fans got behind us, it wasn’t to be. We’ll dust ourselves down and go again.”
Watch Bentley’s full interview below via our YouTube channel.