Football: Must win game for Dale at Scunthorpe

Rochdale manager Keith Hill

Rochdale take on promotion contenders Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park on Saturday in a must win game if Dale are to claw back the deficit on the teams above them and stave off relegation.

Dale mamager Keith Hill said: “During the week against Fleetwood was just a missed opportunity, and we’ve got 11 more opportunities, so we know what we need to do and the players know what they need to do. 

“The only thing I was concerned about was the possibility of a negative slide after Tuesday’s game, but we’ve picked the players up and we’ve given them a good amount of time to rest because psychologically they’re constantly preparing for playing game after game after game, which can get on top of you a little bit, but we’re happy to play football. 

“The players have to embrace it and attack it, whether it’s Scunthorpe or Shrewsbury or Bury away.”

Scunthorpe lost at home to Shrewsbury last time out and manager Graham Alexander said: "We have to continue to focus on what we do well and keep reproducing those performances because we know the results will come from that. We’re still a good team and we’re still here competing for what we ultimately want to achieve."