Dale going ‘all-in’ for play-off push
KEITH Hill has urged his players to go ‘all-in’ tomorrow and ‘create something special’ in their bid for a League One play-off finish.
Dale will start the day as outsiders for the coveted sixth-place berth as they start two points behind Millwall, who currently occupy the spot, and a point behind Southend.
But Hill has told his troops to take care of their own business by beating Bradford City at the Crown Oil Arena.
If they do that, and both Millwall and Southend fail to pick up three points, Hill’s men will compete for a place in the Championship.
And Hill said he would happily have taken such a scenario had been offered him at the start of the campaign.
“If someone had offered me the chance of getting into the play-offs with one game to go at the start of the season I’d have snatched their hand off, one hundred per cent,” he said.
“It’s important that we make the most of the opportunity against Bradford, regardless of the situation, because after that game the league format shows you that everybody is back to no points.
“It’s a difficult league this and we start on equal terms and it’s a hard slog, psychologically.
“So we have to go all in against Bradford to create something special, something that has not been achieved before.
“We’re still chasing something going into the last game, and after 45 games we’ve still got an outside chance, of not only achieving our best ever points total in League One, but also getting into the play-offs.”
The Bantams are already guaranteed a play-off position but are out of the running for automatic promotion.
They could finish third if Fleetwood lose at home against Port Vale, Scunthorpe fail to beat Coventry and they beat Dale, giving them a playoff semi-final against the team finishing sixth. But the likelihood is they are destined to contest the fourth versus fifth semifinal.
Meanwhile, Millwall have to win at Bristol Rovers to guarantee sixth place and go into the game having stuttered recently, losing their last two games.
Rovers have not lost at home since November, a run of 12 games in which only Scunthorpe, Sheffield United and Bradford have avoided defeat.
As for Southend, they entertain a Bury side fighting to stay in the division and have also been in erratic form of late – losing four and winning
‘We have to go all in against Bradford to create something special’
two of their games in April.
“I’m pleased that we’re still in it going into the last game of the season,” said Hill. “Who would have thought we would still have had an opportunity of invading the top six after 45 games!
“It’s entertaining, to be going into the last game of the season still chasing something.
“We’ll go into the Bradford game full of confidence and commitment, and we’ll try to get the job done.
“After 45 games we’ve still got an outside chance, not just of surpassing our best finish in the league or points total, but an outside chance of finishing in the play-offs.
“It would mean a lot to me, but equally so, it wouldn’t make that much difference to my life or the lives of the players because we have already achieved a lot with respect to the budget that we are on in the league we are in
“We are exceeding in our financial ceiling, but we still have that determination, that drive, that ambition.”