Dale find shelter from an ill wind

ILLNESS is really bugging Rochdale boss Keith Hill and he was forced to quarantine a number of senior stars for the goalless draw with local rivals Bury.

After a dire first half which contained only one shot on target, Shakers goalkeeper Joe Murphy was given his marching orders nine minutes after the restart for handling the ball outside of the area.

The match was not one for the purist as the scrappy Greater Manchester derby was littered with fouls and niggly tackles.

Dale pressed for a winner after the dismissal, but the 10 men of Bury dug in deep to grind out a share of the spoils.

Hill felt his “hands were tied” when it came to selecting his team after illness hit the camp, but he was proud of the fight his remaining players showed to earn a point.

“It’s a good point with everything we’re having to deal with behind the scenes,” Hill said. “The team that I selected at the start wasn’t the team I selected yesterday.

“It’s two weekend’s on the trot. We’re down on numbers. It’s injury and illness but we can’t seem to put a stop to the illness. It’s randomly popping up and before match days, during the week and we haven’t tapped it off.

“It’s tricky for us to contain. It’s in the hands of the medics and they’re trying everything they possibly can but we can’t put a stop to it.

“I’m proud of the players and the way they took on the challenge. We didn’t lose game. We represented the football club as a unit and as a squad of players.”

Bury manager Lee Clark was obviously delighted his 10 men were able to stay resolute against the late pressure, especially given the seven goals his side had shipped in the previous two matches.

He said: “How long did we play with 10 men? Thirty-five minutes plus. I have got to congratulate the spirit of the players because I thought the second half when we were a man down the application, attitude and togetherness of the team was superb.

“I have never seen the incident so I don’t know if he’s out of the box or what.

“It’s a tough one but I think Leo Fasan has come in and looked comfortable and assured for us.

“The nine outfield players have done a terrific job for us today.

“We had to dig deep. We could easily have buckled. They haven’t cut us open even with an extra man. Our shape and organisation was good.”