Cameron John says Dale had to show different sides to their game in Friday’s pre-season friendly at Walsall.
A first-half goal from Devante Rodney was cancelled out after the break in a 1-1 draw, in the Wayne Evans Memorial Match.
John, who played the full 90 minutes, said it was a really good test for Dale.
“They’re a good League Two side that have brought a lot of good signings in,” commented the defender.
“I thought we played quite well. We showed what we we’re capable of. We stood up to the challenge and I thought we played really well as a team today.
“We showed how we’re going to play this year and what we’ve been working on a lot in pre-season.
“I think this game here is probably the first game where fans got to see it in full effect, especially in that first-half, where we were quite dangerous and showed our quality.
“Obviously, in the second-half we showed our character, we showed our fight and that we were willing to put our bodies on the line. We showed that different side to our game that we know we’re going to need when the league starts.”
John made a brilliant last-ditch tackle with the game at 1-0 to prevent Freddie Draper from equalising.
“Obviously we’ve got a mentality to just help each other out. Lou [Louie Moulden] helped me out in the first-half, and I saw the striker go round him, Lou did well to delay him, big shouts to Lou for that.
“I just thought if Lou can delay him, I can get there. And I just got there. Like I said shoutout to Lou, he made some great saves today and he’s come in and done really well for us.
“But yeah, I just did my part for the team and that’s all its about, helping each other whenever anyone else needs it.”
The 23-year-old was full of praise for the pre-season training laid out by Jimmy McNulty and his backroom staff this summer.
“It’s been really good. We’ve got a clear way of playing, we’ve got a clear structure of what we’re doing and how we’re going to do things, and that’s really helped not just me, but also the boys.
“You can see when we play games like this today, we’ve got a real structure with how we’re going to play, everyone’s in sync. We know what we’re doing and what we’re not doing.
“Yes, we’re going to get a few things wrong, but we’ve all got that belief in each other that it doesn’t matter if we get a pass wrong or someone gets a touch wrong.
“We all know that we’re all going to be here together, and we are all going to stick together and be fighting.”
There are now just two weeks until the start of the Vanarama National League campaign, when Dale take on Ebbsfleet United, something John is excited for.
“We’re just itching to get started now and we’ve got two weeks, we’ve got another game before then to really embed what we’ve been doing and get that last bit of fitness in.
“I’m really looking forward to it. We’re hoping to start the season well and have a good one.”
