Jimmy McNulty says his side will be in a better place despite defeat at Aldershot Town.
Dale were beaten 3-1 by The Shots on Saturday, in our first match for three weeks.
The Head Coach felt Dale were below the levels they have shown previously, but says the match action should benefit his players.
“I just thought we weren’t very good, to keep it in its simplest form,” said McNulty.
“It’s been a difficult three weeks with not playing, and in that time we could never treat it as a break that we could build the team up to today.
“We were always preparing for a game that kept getting called off, so I was very mindful leading into the game that we couldn’t prepare the players as we would have liked to, load-wise.
“The postponements didn’t lead to the best possible planning leading into this game. I was mindful of that, but putting it to one side, our skills and techniques with the ball, I didn’t think were very good, that’s all.
“We just need to take our medicine and move on to the next one. It’s unfortunate that we had to lose that game, to get into a better place, but I think we are in a better place for having a game again.
“The team struggled with the ball and it affected their confidence a bit as the game went on and went against us. But I didn’t see them give up.
“I saw lots of grit to try and stop their onslaught at times. 3-1 flattered us to a degree. Tiernan Brooks made some excellent saves – it could have been a much bigger score.
“I’ve seen Aldershot get some big score lines this year and they make the game very much like a basketball game.
“You have to be in your rhythm and when you get the ball, ready to control the game. Today, because we weren’t in our rhythm, when we got the ball back, we lost it too quickly, which is really not like us.
“We weren’t able to be what we have been and we weren’t able to make the game how we wanted to make it.
“I looked at them when they were suffering and the fight and the effort was there, so I can’t go too deep on them. We’ve just got to move on to the next game.”
Watch the full post-match interview with our Head Coach via our official YouTube channel below.