Frankie’s unhappy return to Rochdale

IT was a frustrating return to Rochdale for Oldham Athletic manager Frankie Bunn on Tuesday.

Number two to Steve Eyre during his brief spell in charge of Dale, Bunn praised the spirit of his Latics squad following their exit from the Checkatrade Trophy.

The visitors were reduced to 10 men at the Crown Oil Arena before Dale were awarded a penalty in stoppage time after the referee ruled that captain Peter Clarke blocked a shot with his hand from point blank range.

“That’s a disappointing result to take,” said Bunn.

“It was a tough game anyway but I can’t keep going on about referees so I’m going to have to draw a line under that one and let other people speak for me.”

The game was all square for over 90 minutes, with Bunn’s side playing with just 10 men for most of the second half after Mohamed Maouche saw red for a challenge on Matthew Gillam.

The manager was full of praise for the efforts of his team.

“We’ve done it before,” he said.

“We’ve got so much spirit and belief in us that we’ll keep on fighting until the end.

“The supporters also played their part, they were great again, they were terrific they got behind the lads which is fantastic and there was a good number at the game.”

On the red card, Bunn wasn’t in a position to comment on the decision.

“My first thought was he won the ball but it is something I’ll have to look at and again,” he said.

“I’m going to let other people talk for me because I can’t keep on discussing referees, I think we’ve had enough of that.

“I’m just disappointed we haven’t come away with a positive result, even to get to penalties would have been a positive for me.

“I thought we started really well and then we had an indifferent spell where we struggled to put our foot on the ball and put a few passes in.

“I thought we were going to regroup at half time but the sending off changed the game and that’s another questionable decision.

“Then we were chasing the game and they got their second one and that’s just us trying to get back into it.

“We’ve got to roll our sleeves up now and we’ve got to make sure everyone is in good form and everyone recovers well over the next few days.”