Hill’s in dreamland with visit of Spurs
TOMORROW’S much-hyped FA Cup fifth round clash against Tottenham will see Rochdale dreams come true – for supporters, players and the manager.
Keith Hill said he expected Spurs to make changes to the side which drew 2-2 in Turin against Juventus on Tuesday while Dale were losing 3-2 at Bristol Rovers.
And the manager said the tie probably required the Premier League visitors to put in more due diligence than their League One opponents, given the fact Mauricio Pocchettino’s outfit enjoy exposure on the world stage.
“From a dreamer’s perspective, it has now become a reality,” said Hill. “From a player and a manager’s viewpoint you want to play against better opposition to help you create a standard above where you are at personally at this moment in time because you want to play against teams who will show you the improvements you need to make.
“From an FA Cup point of view it could be an upset, a banana skin. We’re looking forward to it. I love the way that Tottenham play, I love the players that they have and it is going to be a severe test. But we saw what Newport nearly did to them (in the fourth round) and they were certainly not embarrassed in the replay at Wembley.
“I expect Tottenham to make changes because they have done previously and they have got big games. But from mine and the players’ perspective we have earned the opportunity to play against a Tottenham side who are in the Champions League, going from Juventus to Rochdale!
“There will be no surprises, regardless of what team they select. I think Tottenham will probably do their due diligence on us. They will know less about us and I think their players will have to adapt to the way that we play rather than us adapting to the way that they play.
“The pitch, the surroundings, the difference between the sides in the football pyramid – it’s all huge. But on any given matchday, we might have to rise to Premier League standard or we might have to drag Tottenham down to League One standard.
“Those are the permutations in a nutshell within 90 minutes for us to achieve the impossible dream of beating Tottenham. We will go into the game trying to win it, we won’t go in trying to avoid losing. We’ll go all out to try and win the game, we have to.”