Elementary mistakes

Rochdale’s unbeaten run came to end on Saturday with a 3-0 defeat at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park and manager Keith Hill gave his reaction after the game.

“I can have no complaints about the result, but we can’t come to Portsmouth and make the mistakes that we’ve made and expect to get something from it,” Hill said. “That’s what’s really disappointing because we made elementary mistakes, and when Fratton Park is rocking we almost hand the game to the opposition.

“They’re an excellent side playing with no pressure and it was a long hard game for the players. We relieved Portsmouth of all the pressure that was built up with respect to the game and the performance that they had last week.

“I thought Portsmouth were excellent, I thought we were average and no comparison to what I’m/you are used to, but hopefully it’s a big learning curve for the players in what we need to do.

“I think the opposition paid us a lot of respect, they put us under immense pressure and I can’t legislate for the mistakes that we’ve made which have contributed to all three goals.

“Can we recover? Without a question! Can we go on another run? Definitely! But we can’t mistakes like that and expect to win any game, never mind against Portsmouth when they’re at their home ground.”