Hill happy as Championship side Blackburn Rovers arrive at Spotland

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Keith Hill

Dale have  had three outings, recording wins over Northwich Victoria, FC Halifax Town and Stalybridge Celtic, and welcome Championship side Blackburn Rovers to Spotland today for the first game on home soil.

Manager Keith Hill says he’s reasonably happy with how pre-season has gone so far but is keen to see how the players fare against Championship opposition.

He told Dale Player: “I’m relatively pleased with everything, but pre-season can lead you into a false sense of security because there’s no pressure.

“They are great preparation games and what we have found so far is that the players are getting their fitness, they’re getting their sharpness, they’re getting an understanding of the tactics that we’re trying to employ and that is what it is all about.

"There will be mistakes but as a manager I’ve got to be very forgiving, especially as a manager who wants to develop players, and we have to allow players to make mistakes. They have to be comfortable in the knowledge that they will be forgiven and if they are trying to do the right thing that’s the course of action that we have to take to give them the experience.

"There’s a lot of surprises in football – negative surprises as well as positive ones. The pleasant surprises are the Jamie Allen’s of this world, but we haven’t any negative surprises yet.

"I don’t know what is going to happen against Blackburn Rovers – I know what team I’m going to pick, but it will interesting to see us maybe get beat against Blackburn or Macclesfield to see how we respond during those games and as result of the impact of the negative result or display.

"I’m trying to manage the team, pick a few surprises, see if any of the players are compatible with the team ethic and if they’re not then let’s get that out of the way now in pre-season. Team selection might hurt one or two players who think they might be playing but I want to see what sort of response I get from them.

"I want a team ethic and that includes everybody – substitutes, the players who will be sat in the stand and the trialists that we have currently at the football club."

Supporters can pay at the gate, with the admission prices as follows:

Rochdale v Blackburn Rovers, Saturday 20 July, 3pm
Adults - £10
16s and under - £5
No concessions are available

The game against the Championship side is one of two home friendlies scheduled to take place during the pre-season programme, with League One's Preston North End the visitors to Spotland seven days later (Saturday 27 July).

Tickets are also on sale for this fixture at the RAFC Ticket Office, however, supporters can pay on the day of the game.

Rochdale v Preston North End, Saturday 27 July, 3pm
Adults - £10
16s and under - £5
No concessions are available