Accrington Stanley vs Rochdale - match preview

Photo: Jon Coluccio

Adam Le Fondre will be hoping to return to the form that saw him score a hat-trick against Accrington last season.

Rochdale are hoping to record back-to-back victories for the first time this season when they travel to Accrington this Sunday (28 September, kick off 3pm).

Dale are expected to name the same side for the third game in a row, while Will Buckley goes in search for his third goal in as many games after his strikes against Rotherham and Chesterfield. Despite a poor performance, Keith Hill's men scraped past the Spireites in dramatic fashion last Saturday, when Tom Kennedy struck a free-kick winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

While his starting eleven is likely to remain the same, the Dale manager will be forced to make changes to his substitute's bench after both Kallum Higginbotham and Mark Jones, who is still to make his Dale debut, picked up knocks in Wednesday's reserve defeat against Tranmere.

With Lee Thorpe out suspended, the Dale bench will be looking slightly threadbare. Hill chose not to include a substitute goalkeeper in the game against Chesterfield, but James Spencer may come onto the bench just to make up the numbers. Another likely candidate to join the subs will be Kyle Lambert, who is yet to make his first team debut but has impressed with the reserves.

Accrington are without a win in four league fixtures and were on the receiving end of a 3-0 reverse at the hands of Darlington last weekend. Stanley's last home game brought late drama as they conceded an injury time goal to Notts County, only to hit back immediately to earn a point.

This Sunday's game will be Accrington boss John Coleman's 400th game in charge of Stanley and he will be looking to record a first win over Dale since Accrington returned to the Football League two years ago. Dale did the double over their Lancashire rivals last season. A 2-1 away win with ten men was followed by a 4-1 victory at Spotland. The home game saw Adam Le Fondre hit a hat-trick and he will be hoping to return to that kind of form on Sunday having scored only one goal so far this season.

Accrington will be without Andy Procter, Leam Richardson and Bobby Harris through injury, while Ian Dunbavin could return to their squad after recovering from a gashed knee in Accrington's defeat at the hands of Tranmere in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.