Injuries are on the mend for Rochdale
THE suspension of Rochdale’s Boxing Day game against Blackpool allowed Brian Barry-Murphy’s squad extra time to get the walking wounded back to match fitness.
Dale were six key players down for their last fixture, the 4-1 home defeat by Gillingham on Saturday December 19.
The gaffer said injuries were a by-product of a season in which games come thick and fast following a shortened pre-season for many clubs. But he said a number of players were due back soon.
“Everybody throughout the country has had injury lists because of the nature of the season,” he said.
“The issue for us is that we are very light in terms of the numbers we carry in the squad so it becomes a major issue for us.
“But we are definitely getting people back. Jake Beesley has fulfilled his return-to-play protocol so he is available for selection and Matty Lund comes back from suspension, we feel we are getting closer to getting Gavin Bazunu back, Ollie Rathbone is making great progress and will hopefully be back in training in the next couple of weeks and Ryan McLaughlin is on the verge of being fit so things can very quickly change and it’s just about trying to remain calm when things are stretched.”
And BBM said one of the positives to come out of a testing calendar year has been the club’s increasing involvement with the community.
“It’s been a groundbreaking year in terms of what we have had to put up with in line with everyone else and it has become commonplace to sympathise with everybody who is going through difficult times. Our own region has had difficult moments since March and it’s been felt by everyone.
“There’s been a general worry and wanting everyone to feel safe and secure when it came to putting players back into an environment where they were leaving their families and going back to them after training – that was at the forefront of everybody’s mind and it’s been a very challenging period.
“Since the start of March when we became aware of the enormity of this it’s been a case of trying to get the best possible care for everyone to feel safe, look after everybody and then getting support to the community and the players have really come to the fore with that and have made themselves very visible to our supporters and to people in the town in general. I think it has really heightened our sense of duty in terms of what we can do to make people feel better and help the community.
“The players are a very resilient bunch. We always pride ourselves on trying to make them feel as safe and secure as possible and I think they have been very intent on trying to provide as much help and support to everybody.
“In the past, when I was a player, it would have been a case of seeing what duties were required to do – but the players have been asking for things to do and what way they can help and that’s been a huge plus and a huge sign of what we have had to do this season.