Rochdale vs Macclesfield - Match Preview

Photo: Jon Coluccio

Keith Hill

'If you want to play football - train. If you want to win football matches - train harder'. That is the message pinned to the door to Keith Hill's office at Spotland and it is a philosophy that he will put into his team selection for this weekend's game against Macclesfield after a full complement of players enjoyed a full week of training in the build up to the fixture.

Although Hill is unlikely to alter a side that has won its last four league matches, he warned that the regular starters could not afford to rest on their laurels, especially now that long term injuries to Simon Ramsden and Jon Shaw have cleared and the pair played a full part in training this week.

That leaves Hill with a fully fit squad and competition for places across the park. Shaw, Adam Le Fondre, Clark Keltie, Mark Jones, Marcus Holness and Joe Thompson have all featured in Dale's last two games, which were both in cup competition, and Hill knows that all six are ready to step up to the plate and are hungry for first team football.

The onus will be on the more regular starters to continue Dale's good run against Macclesfield in the knowledge that Hill will have plenty of options on the bench if they do not perform.

Hill told Rochdale's Official website: "At this moment we have a full strength squad with good competition for places. There is good competition on the training pitch, which is as it should be and places in the team are still up for grabs.

"What we can't have is people expecting to be picked because they are in a winning side. We take into account, in great detail what happens during the course of the week and if we feel as though we need to change things then we will."

Macclesfield fans under 16 years old who are season ticket holders will be given free admission to the game, while the same arrangement is in place for Rochdale's junior season ticket holders when Dale visit Macclesfield on 14 February.

Last season the two sides could not be seperated. A 1-1 draw was played out at Spotland in September as Dale made a stuttering start to the season and then a 2-2 draw followed at the Moss Rose in December when a 90th minute Glenn Murray goal allowed Dale to come from two goals down to steal a point.