Backbone is stronger now for Dale
KEITH Hill feels his Rochdale squad looks stronger heading into the start of pre-season than it was 12 months ago.
The players returned from their summer breaks this week for assessments and will begin training in preparation for the 2017/18 campaign next week.
And Hill, who recently signed a new five-year deal at the club, is pleased with the make-up of his squad at this early stage and the business Dale have conducted so far.
Joe Rafferty has extended his stay at the club, while Hill has brought in Reece Brown, Brad Inman, Brendan Moore and Jordan Williams to counter the losses of Matt Lund, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Conrad Logan and Peter Vincenti.
Hill expects more new arrivals, but said that will depend on his assessment of the squad after completing their preseason programme.
“Looking at the core, the backbone of the squad, it’s better than it was this time last year when we were approaching pre-season,” he said.
“We will look to recruit two, maybe three more players, depending on the look of the squad after pre-season and probably during the first couple of weeks of the season as we approach the end of August.
“I’m happy looking at the jigsaw and the permutations that I’ve got with the players that I’ve recruited and retained for a number of different starting elevens. I’ve got multi-positional players and I’ve got good flexibility.
“I’ve recruited pace. I’ve also recruited another goalkeeper (Moore) who provides competition for Josh Lillis for the number one slot. I believe that we have two number one goalkeepers.
“In Reece Brown, I’ve got a player who is flexible in playing central defence, central midfield or right-back, and can do a job more than adequately in any of those positions.
“The two wide players/ number 10s (Williams and Inman) are quick and they’ll contribute goals and assists.
“It was important that we looked at the area of the pitch as I was planning on improving away results, and I believe recruiting that type of player was necessary.
“As I said, there will be two, possibly three more recruits, and there maybe one or two more players who leave during the course of the next six to eight weeks.”