Dale squad boosted by Stanton signing

Rochdale AFC latest news

Rochdale triallist Nathan Stanton has finally put pen-to-paper on a one year deal to stay at Spotland. The former Scunthorpe United defender was offered a contract after impressing in his trial period, with a particularly outstanding performance against Premiership big-guns Manchester City at the weekend before he was forced off the field due to a first-half injury.

Stanton becomes Steve Parkin’s second summer signing after winger Adam Rundle was snapped up last month and so far the two players have impressed the fans and the manager in pre-season.

Having played most of his career at full-back, Stanton has spent Dale’s pre-season friendlies at centre-half and he is expected to partner Mark Jackson, assuming they are both fit, for Rochdale’s season opener against Walsall at Spotland.

Having only made a late second half performance against Gloucester due to him also appearing for Walsall a couple of days earlier, it was feared that Stanton may pursue his career elsewhere. However, Parkin got his man at the second time of asking, having tried to sign him last summer, and now ironically he is set to make his Dale debut against the Midland club that also showed an interest.

The news will lift some of the gloom from Steve Parkin’s depleted squad. Injuries to no fewer than six first team players, including Stanton himself, have meant that just eight or nine players joined in training this week. This forced the Dale manager into cancelling the friendly against Rossendale, scheduled for Thursday evening and will leave him with a small squad for the final friendly of pre-season, Saturday’s trip to Oldham Athletic.

The team at Oldham is expected to be a mixture of youth and experience as the Dale manager will hope to protect some of his first choice players with the start of the season proper only a week away. Meanwhile, Parkin will continue the search for further additions right up to August 5; hopefully he will have been able to speak to the board about extending the budget in order to add to what will be the smallest squad in the football league.