Boss calling for a pressure drop
KEITH Hill has told his players not to put too much pressure on themselves by approaching games with a ‘must-win’ mentality.
Hill suspected his squad were guilty of doing so ahead of 2-0 midweek defeat by Fleetwood at the Crown Oil Arena when his side struggled to match recent performance levels.
Dale go to play-off chasing Scunthorpe this afternoon looking to get their fight for League One survival back on track, and Hill is calling for a more relaxed approach.
“I’ve been in this situation as a player and it’s a difficult situation to deal with.” he said. “But there’s no pressure as far as I am concerned and I don’t want the players to play with the negative pressure that’s being forced down on them from every angle.
“They have got to respond by being better than they were on Tuesday performance-wise.
“I didn’t see that type of performance coming. Performances recently have been superb. Training on Monday was buoyant and I expected a positive bounce and a quicker game – but we didn’t get it.
“I don’t know what it was down to. Sometimes little things stand out in your mind and sometimes players don’t communicate well with managers.
“I didn’t see this as a big game, I just saw it as a game, an opportunity.
“But I was sat in my office before the game and Joe Thompson came in and said ‘big game tonight’. I just wonder if the players had been talking themselves into this being a must-win game.
“They shouldn’t really and that will disappoint me if they have because they are putting too much pressure on themselves.
“The pressure that is on themselves is as a result of the 34 games we have played, not this one! I don’t want them to build any one game into an insurmountable challenge and I think that’s what they might have done and it resulted in negative energy.”
Having drawn two and lost one of their last three games – all at home – Dale are on the road again this weekend.
“We’re away from home and all we seem to get when we’re away from home is unbelievable support,” said Hill.
“It’s difficult because it’s hard not to react in the way some supporters react – I understand the supporters are not booing, they are honestly and genuinely concerned and they are trying to encourage. But it’s a difficult one. It is what it is. I’ll deal with it, I just wish people would deal with it like I do.”