Dale not taking anything for granted

Michael Rose says the players are “not taking anything for granted” as Dale get set to face Portsmouth this weekend.

The team head into the fixture at Fratton Park following four wins in September, but while Rose says confidence is high, he’s expecting a difficult encounter in front of a 14,000 plus crowd.

"I think certainly the first 20 minutes against Wycombe is the best we’ve played all year,” Rose said. “We got plenty of chances and the front guys have been doing brilliantly. I think the four of them, whoever it may be, have played well together, so once they settle in and gel it’s only a plus for us.

"We’ve got confidence now going into Saturday off the back of four wins and being unbeaten in five, and hopefully we can keep that going. But we’re not taking anything for granted, we know that we’ve still got to work hard throughout the games.

"On the back of four wins you just want to push on and we’ll work hard.

"Portsmouth will come at us because they’re the home team, but we’ve got to stay strong, stand up to the challenge and concentrate on what we need to do.

“It was only a few years ago that they were playing Premiership football. It’s an old ground with what should be a really good atmosphere – some of our players might not have been involved in that sort of stuff before so it’ll be a really good experience, and hopefully we can go and get another three points.”