‘We want to put a dent in Bristol Rovers promotion ambition’ - Rochdale boss’ aim in game against Gas

Rochdale manager Robbie Stockdale is hoping to put a dent in Bristol Rovers’ automatic promotion hopes.

The Dale welcome the Gas and a 2,000 strong contingent to Spotland on Saturday afternoon, with not much to play for in terms of league position.

Stockdale’s side are 18th in League Two whilst Rovers are still in contention of an automatic promotion spot whilst they still need to secure a play-off spot.

Joey Barton’s side dropped down to fifth in midweek after Mansfield Town won their game in hand whilst Sutton United reduced the gap between them and Rovers to a point.

A win over Rochdale coupled with a Barrow win over Swindon would go a long way to securing that, but anything other than a win could hamper their automatic hopes and also open the door to the chasing pack.

But winning will be no easy task as Rochdale possess a good home record and in their last 15 matches at home, they have lost just twice.

“We want to put a dent in Bristol Rovers’ promotion ambition and that is what every other team will be doing against those teams this weekend,” said the 42-year-old to the official club website.

“Joey and the team will know they are going to come across a team that works as hard as we possibly can, play good football and hopefully come out on top.”

Ahead of the meeting, there will be some changes in personnel for both sides from their last meeting in December following some January business.

Jake Beesley who was twice target at the Mem back in December, adding to a tally of nine goals in 21 appearances moved to Blackpool in the Championship.

And whilst Rochdale lost a forward, Rovers brought one in as they signed Ryan Loft from Scunthorpe United for an undisclosed fee.

Loft has only scored one goal for the Gas since joining from the Irons and was the only player that had a fee exchanged for him.

Elliot Anderson and James Connolly were brought in on loan from Newcastle United and Cardiff City respectively whilst Jon Nolan joined on a free transfer.

“Recruitment wise they’ve strengthened quite significantly in January,” said Stockdale.

“They’ve spent quite a lot of money in terms of bringing players in and it has paid off for them. Credit to them. It will be a tough game.

“I feel we can give any team problems in the division when we’re at it and we play at our our best. It’s the aim of the game on Saturday.”

In terms of team selection for the opposition ahead of the match, there are a few niggles amongst the squad that will need to be looked at before the match.

One player who is certain to miss out is defender Paul Downing, who injured his ankle, which will keep him out for the remainder of the season.

The 30-year-old is on loan from League One side Portsmouth and played the last three games before injuriing it against Hartlepool. Other than tht Rochdale should have the same squad that they had in the 2-0 defeat to Exeter last Saturday

“From the weekend we’ve got a couple more injuries that will be assessed tomorrow.

The news about Paul Downing wasn’t good, he’s had a scan and he’s fractured his ankle and that’s him out for a significant period of time.

“Other than that it’s pretty much the same squad that went down to the weekend at Exeter.”