No fringe players in our squad says Hill

KEITH Hill insists there are no fringe players in his Rochdale squad.

The Dale chief has guided his side to fourth place in League One on the back of a fine run of form, including nine successive home victories, the latest of which came with a 3-0 success against Chesterfield on Monday.

And Dale have defied the odds, rising towards the top of the table despite a series of injuries and suspensions to key players.

“Fringe players? I don’t know where that phrase came from because I believe if players are doing the right things on the training pitch then they will get an opportunity,” he said.

“We’ve had sickness and diarrhea this week and we’ve had other players who have come onto the substitutes bench who will get their opportunity. But what we do is see opportunities, rather than say ‘we’ve got an injury’ or ‘we’ve got a suspension.’ It just creates another opportunity and the players in the club know they will get an opportunity and we do put our trust in those players. So we don’t have fringe players, we have players that we trust.”

Dale were back in action on Friday when they were due to entertain Shrewsbury at the Crown Oil Arena and Hill was hoping for another bumper crowd after Boxing Day attracted almost 4,000 supporters.

“The attendance was superb and we do provide entertainment – it wasn’t just a sterile victory. I think it’s entertaining, there’s some good players out on the pitch and we try to attack and score goals.”