Captain Cavanagh pleased to be back after achilles injury

Dale Captain Peter Cavanagh says he is pleased to be back involved after making a return from an achilles injury.

The midfielder was named as a substitute for last Saturday’s trip to York City, which marked his first involvement in a match day squad since August.

Cavanagh is hoping to kick on now but is aware that he may need to be patient.

He said: “I was pleased to be involved and I was pleased to be back around the boys. Obviously the lads have gone out and got a result at York.

“I’m just hopeful that I can stay involved and give the gaffer a few selection headaches and get some chances on the pitch. I’m under no illusions that I will have to be patient though. Just because I’m captain doesn’t guarantee me anything in the squad. I know I will have to bide my time before I get that chance.”

Rochdale make the trip to Rotherham United’s New York Stadium in the the FA Cup with Budweiser this Saturday, a venue which brought success for Dale last season.

Dale were the first team to inflict defeat on Rotherham at their new Stadium with a 3-2 win, thanks to goals from Dele Adebola, Bobby Grant and Kevin McIntyre.

Cavanagh recalls what he remembers about the match: “I was on the bench for that game but I remember Kev Mac (Kevin McIntyre who departed Dale in the summer) scored a great goal. It was an enthralling match and I thought it was a deserved win at the time.

“This Saturday’s game will be a really tough. They’re quite physical and we like to play. We’ll have to stand up to their physical capabilities and they’ll have to stand up to our ball retention and possession, so I think it could go either way. We’ll certainly be giving it our best to be in the hat on Sunday.”

The 32-year-old has played in the third round of the FA Cup, progressing to that stage of the competition with the then non-league Accrington Stanley during the 2002/03 season, and he remembers it well.

"We beat a couple of League One teams then got Colchester which was really disappointing," laughed Cavanagh.

“That’s no disrespect to Colchester but when you get to the third round you think you’re going to get a Premier League club and when you don’t it can be quite disheartening. I’d like to have that memory, that trip to a big Premiership ground on my CV before I finish, so hopefully this will be the year.”