Hill confident players will bounce back

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Keith Hill

Manager Keith Hill is confident his players will bounce back from defeat in midweek for today's encounter against Morecambe at the Globe Arena.

It’s the third consecutive game on the road for Rochdale following the trips to Chesterfield and Torquay, and while Hill admits that travelling can take it out the players, he says they’ve had a good rest.

“You need physical and mental energy, so you need to be able to rest,” Hill said. “We’ve had a good rest, the players are fit enough, they’re magnificent and a joy to work with.

“It’s difficult because we’ve had the emotional high of the Torquay game and the disappointment of going out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, a cup that we all wanted to do well in and one where we feel like we’ve had a real opportunity taken away from us [following the wrongly judged decision regarding Ian Henderson’s second half goal].

“But the players will bounce – good players bounce, winning players bounce, winning teams bounce and Morecambe is a good game for us.

“Morecambe are in a great position and a managed by an ex-team mate of mine, Jim Bentley, who’s doing a superb job.

“I feel as though he’s got a good team together, a team that’s built on team spirit and honesty, which is very similar to ourselves. I played for Morecambe, I have a liking for Jim Bentley and the players up there, and I hope they do well after Saturday.”