Hill bemused by performance at Chesterfield

Photo: Jon Coluccio

Keith Hill

Rochdale manager Keith Hill said he felt bemused by his side's performance after the 3-0 defeat to Chesterfield at Saltergate last night.

Chesterfield top scorer Jack Lester ran the visiting defence ragged and scored a goal in either half before Gregor Robertson sealed an emphatic victory with a late third.

The game represented a chance for Dale to open up some daylight between themselves and their fellow promotion chasers. They remain second in the league, locked on the same number of points as third place Gillingham but with a better goal difference, while fourth place Wycombe have played two games less.

“We can't explain why and nor can the players, it was just a bad performance," said Hill. "We were lucky to go into half time 1-0 down but Chesterfield on the night were the better side, no question about that.

"Where we are in the league is on merit and we need to recover from that quickly. The result and the performance, I am bemused by it. We saw yesterday in training the lads were up for it but it never happened. We made mistakes and when they have players like Jack Lester in the side you can’t afford to make those mistakes.

"We’ve got to take it on the chin tonight. It was nowhere near the standard of football we expect and the performance individually or collectively.

"I was expecting more from tonight, it stunned me a bit and I didn’t see it coming. We are still second tonight so there is no ground lost but there was nothing gained either. The only team that have gained ground tonight is Chesterfield.”