Rotherham United v Rochdale - match preview

Chris Dagnall is set to continue up front against Rotherham despite a lack of goals so far this season.

Chris Dagnall and Adam Le Fondre are set to continue their partnership up front for Rochdale despite a lack of goals from the pair so far this term.

Keith Hill has added to his forward options with the signing of Ipswich striker Jordan Rhodes on a month long loan but it is not expected that the 18-year old will be thrown straight into first team action.

With Jon Shaw injured and Lee Thorpe not fully fit, Hill will back Dagnall and Le Fondre to break Dale's goalscoring drought at the Don Valley Stadium.

Dale may also have do without Clark Keltie, who felt a niggle in the warm-up to the Wycombe game and was forced to pull out.

Hill's squad have had a tough couple of weeks, with the sudden death of sports scientist Paul Conway followed up by a frustrating defeat at the hands of Wycombe last Saturday.
After taking a couple of days off at the beginning of the week to reflect on things, the Dale boss has returned fully energised and the squad are full of confidence going into tomorrow's game.

Dale are right to be confident ahead of the fixture after they did the double over Rotherham last season, scoring eight goals in the process. It would be the perfect time for Dagnall to re-find his form after he scored a remarkable hat-trick against the Millers when coming off the bench following a six-month lay off in the home game at Spotland.

Meanwhile Rotherham will be looking to avenge those two defeats after making a bright start to their season and making in-roads into their minus 18 point start. They suffered a set-back at Chesterfield last week, with former Dale full back Alan Goodall scoring the only goal of the game in the fourth minute of injury time, but that result followed on the back of an unbeaten run of six games, including victories against Sheffield Wednesday and Wolverhampton Wanderers on penalties in the Carling Cup.

Manager Mark Robins is set to continue with the same team that lost at Saltergate with centre-backs Ian Sharps and Nick Fenton both recovering from the knocks that they picked up in that game.