Rochdale manager Keith Hill believes his team are in a similar position to that of a cricketer trying to score a century as they aim for promotion from League Two.
Saturday’s last-gasp 2-1 victory over Accrington Stanley courtesy of two Matt Lund goals kept Dale in the third automatic promotion place.
With ten games to go, Hill wants his side to remain calm and close in on promotion in the way a first-class batsman would hone in on a century.
“If we were a batsmen we’d be in the 90s now (and) it’s important that we get to the 100 runs,” Hill told reporters.
“When a cricketer gets to the 90s he’s done unbelievable to get to 90, 99 and how many times do we see cricketers get out in the 90s?
“There’s only one reason for that and that’s the amount of pressure they put themselves under. They start over-thinking about the situation (and) about what might be and we can’t afford to do that.
“We can’t look too keenly at the possible destinations because it can lead to so much disappointment, so for me play happy, play free (and) don’t put ourselves under too much pressure.”
It was a not a weekend of victory for Dale’s injured top scorer Scott Hogan however, who was pipped to the League Two player of the year award by Chesterfield winger Gary Roberts at the Football League awards in London last night.
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