Rochdale boss Keith Hill has encourage his players to embrace the challenge high-flying Coventry City will pose at Spotland tomorrow night.
Dale were indebted to goalkeeper Josh Lillis as he pulled off a series of sublime stops to ensure his side’s first clean sheet since August against Bury on Saturday.
Hill sent out the message that his Rochdale side, in 10th place and with seven wins over Coventry in their 11 previous meetings, won’t be intimidated by one of the league’s biggest clubs.
“We’ve fought hard to get into League One so we should enjoy it and take challenges on that opposition like Coventry possess,” he said.
“It represents an opportunity and we’ve got to put our trust in the players. Are they good enough for Rochdale FC? Without question.
“They’re a very good side with an outstanding but you can go into every game very confident you can get something from it.
“The clean sheet (on Saturday) gives us a lot of confidence going into the next games.”
Hill’s side will be aiming to stay in touch with the play-off places against a Coventry side looking towards the automatic promotion spots.
Dale welcomed back Ian Henderson and Calvin Andrew at Bury on Saturday, however Joe Rafferty is awaiting scan result.
Meanwhile, Tony Mowbray’s Coventry City side, who haven’t conceded a goal in 360 minutes of football, will feature Joe Cole for the first time.
Mowbray is expecting Rochdale to pose a physical threat tomorrow night.
“We know what to expect from them after playing them earlier in the season,” he said.
“I’d have preferred to be going in with Reda Johnson because they can be direct at times. And he would have given us an answer to that.”
His Sky Blues side, who lost at Spotland on penalties in the Capital One Cup in August, will also be without John Fleck.
Image courtesy of Official Rochdale via YouTube, with thanks.
