In-form Dale told to keep rolling
Skipper calls on team-mates to maintain momentum by extending unbeaten run
ROCHDALE skipper Eoghan O’connell is urging his teammates to build on the momentum of five games unbeaten as they prepare to cross swords with Tranmere Rovers today.
Dale head into the clash at the Crown Oil Arena in tenth spot in League Two, one place above Rovers by virtue of slightly better goal difference.
Victory today could see them enter the play-off places but at this early stage in the season, O’connell’s main concern is maintaining the positivity built up via wins against Northampton and Port Vale in the league, Shrewsbury in the EFL Cup and Liverpool under 23s in the EFL Trophy in recent weeks.
“It’s nice to put those kind of runs together - I know it’s in all competitions but it’s a winning mentality, it breeds confidence and momentum is huge in football, and a bit of luck!” said O’connell. “We’ve had that, we’ve gained that momentum now and we just need to keep it going and roll into the Tranmere game.”
There has been a tangible feelgood factor around the club since the win at Northampton last month, the same day the club managed to stave off a hostile takeover bid.
With ten new arrivals at the club since the summer, O’connell and his team-mates have had to gel quickly and the skipper says the environment at the club, not to mention the supporters, has helped with that bedding in period for the new boys.
“I have the title as captain, but I think we all have a role to play,” he said. “I was showing them round on the first day but everyone has a job to make the new players welcome and I think with the group of lads we have, you couldn’t not feel welcome. We’re all really good friends and I think it’s quite an easy environment for people to come into.
“We’ve all been there before when we’re new players joining new clubs, we know how difficult it can be so it’s just about making it as easy as we can for them.
“The support has been great, especially when they’re in one little section like last weekend (at Port Vale), we can get over there altogether. It’s great to have people back in – we as players are delighted to have the fans back in and be able to enjoy the game for themselves.”
Arguably the most impressive of the new arrivals so far has been Corey O’keeffe, who has quickly emerged as a fans’ favourite and bagged the winner in the 3-2 win at Vale Park last weekend.
“Corey has had a superb impact on the team, we’ve seen it from the first day he came in, he’s been brilliant for us,” said O’connell. “His quality on the ball is huge for us - he can run and get in behind you, but he can have the ball and makes things happen for us. He’s been a great asset, as have all the lads.”
But it was one of last season’s arrivals who caught O’connell’s eye most – two-goal frontman Jake Beesley.
“Jake is unbelievable - I said to him at the end we don’t know how lucky we are to have him. Even when he’s not scoring, it’s the work he does for the team and way he gets hold of the ball for us. The thing is for him, every game he seems to be getting better and better and Saturday was one of the best centre forward displays I have seen at this level. We should cherish him while he’s here.”
O’connell has been employed in a three-man backline by new boss Robbie Stockdale this season and is enjoying the challenge.
“It can be quite different - on Saturday I played on the left of the three instead of the middle where I’ve played,” he said.
“Sometimes you can end up a bit wider, it’s different things. When you are in a four you tend to be defending the middle of the goal quite a bit, on the outside of a three you tend to be wider trying to block crosses and stuff like that. It’s different but it’s good - I love playing in positions and like challenging myself. I kind of enjoyed the rocky start in the first ten or 15 minutes last week, I enjoyed the battle of getting myself back into the game and trying to do a job for the team.
“We’ve shown so far this season and even last season that going behind doesn’t really phase us, we showed character to come back into the game and you know when you go away from home the opposition are going to look to start and have their way in the game, that happens – it’s about how we respond. We had a sticky start but once we got ourselves into the game we were by far the better team.”