Players demonstrated their commitment

THE desire and passion from Dale’s players at Roots Hall ought to dismiss any question marks against their commitment to the cause.

The defeat at home against Plymouth sparked some knee jerk reactions from fans questioning the players and manager. But Keith Hill said the truth was on show at Southend.

“I think there’s a misinterpretation of how the players feel about representing supporters,” he said. “I don’t think any genuine supporter who supporters Rochdale Football Club should question the players’ desire, commitment, endeavour and energy. Yes they get it wrong sometimes, but every player gets it wrong. The expression at the end the shows and sums up that they love playing for the football club, which they do. We have got it wrong and you have to be brave enough to accept that you’ve got it wrong. I thought there was bravery in that performance.

“We were put under direct pressure and it was obvious what they did so I made a tactical change with Joe Rafferty coming off because they were trying to isolate Joe, like Plymouth did to a certain degree. I have to make decisions during the course of the game that won’t always work in my favour but I thought they did today. They were picking on Joe and they put a player on him who was taller than him, like Plymouth did with Joel Grant last week, and I’ve got to be aware of that. Kgosi [Ntlhe], at this moment in time, is a little bit better than Joe in the air, especially at those diagonal passes, so that’s why I made the change.

“It was difficult for us to play the passing game today, and that provided a little bit of education for Dan Adshead. That was the cut and thrust of League One, right in your face, and he was excellent.”