Old rivals Robins in ‘different place’

ROCHDALE head coach Jim Mcnulty admitted Rochdale were in a very different place to old adversaries Altrincham as the teams prepared to cross swords at the Crown Oil Arena.

Dale were looking to build on Saturday’s 2-1 home win against Aldershot

in the midweek clash against the Robins, but Mcnulty was only too aware of the opposition’s strength in depth.

“Their squad depth is massive, they’ve had a couple of cash injections this season and it’s really noticeable in their squad,” he said. “I think they have thirty players compared with our nineteen. That’s just a fact we’re dealing with. I think we’ve used the least amount of players in the league and have the second smallest squad. Altrincham are in a different place. They are benfitting from sticking to the plan, continuity with the same manager for a few seasons and then that injection of cash which has allowed them to really bolster their squad all over the pitch.”

Mcnulty was pleased with the patience his players showed in the 2-1 win at home to Aldershot Town on Saturday.

Dale fell behind in the 37th minute but equalised just five minutes later through Jimmy Keohane, before Kairo Mitchell’s winner 11 minutes from time.

“I’m happy for the team and the fans. Happy for my staff,” said Mcnulty.

“It’s a long week reflecting on a last-minute loss in the last game (at Wealdstone), which looking back at we can’t believe we didn’t win. We should have been out of sight.

“But it was a deserved victory today. We had total control in the game, but you hope that we handle some of the moments that we haven’t handled previously. We did that and we were more than value for the win.

“The team always fights. No matter what the circumstances or the feelings. They got the goal back before half-time, which was big, and it was a good goal. It brought us into half-time with a bounce.

“As the first-half was growing, we were controlling huge parts of the game, it was just about would we be able to break them down.

“We were confident we would and to be fair to the team, they kept their patience, stuck to what they believe in over the course of the 96 minutes. against a good team who have been causing a lot of sides problems in the league.

“Thankfully the outcome reflected how I felt the game could go and I’m glad for the team and for the fans.”

Dale’s winner came from a well-worked set piece routine, and Mitchell also had an earlier attempt saved from another routine.

“We work really hard on them moments, trying to stop them and trying to score them,” said Mcnulty.

“They contribute to successful seasons no end – they’re a really important factor of the game.

“We pay them as much attention as we possibly can and work them, and hope that they come to fruition on days like today. We got a reward from that today.”