'Dale manager Keith Hill spoke to his club's official website and the Rochdale Observer ahead of his side's League One game against Carlisle at Spotland on Saturday afternoon, Hill not looking any further on than that game as his team look to get into a play-off spot come the end of the season :
"Carlisle are a side with a League One pedigree and we fully respect them, we won't take anything for granted. There is much talk of the final game against Bournemouth but we have three very tough games ahead of that fixture and we have to take care of our business as Bournemouth have with theirs. It's not just between us two because there are four or five teams vying for that final play off spot and there could be lots of twists and turns before the end of the season.
"I'm over the moon that we are one of those teams and we will endeavour to squeeze as much as we can from this season but however it goes from here on in, we should all be very proud of what we have achieved. We need three wins to reach the play offs – that’s the target for us, Bournemouth, Leyton Orient and Exeter who are the dark horses in the race. They are on the rail and have come from a distance – but they are the team that everyone ought to be aware of.
"We got into sixth place as a result of a magnificent performance against Southampton, but the physical and mental energy levels it took were too much for the players to recover from in order to reproduce that kind of display against Brentford. The players were burnt out. But we have had a free week for rest and recovery to re-energise ourselves for the two games at the weekend.
"The final game of the season at Bournemouth could be a great game or it could be a dead rubber. We have got to take care of the three games coming up, and they are all difficult games – Carlisle and Peterborough at home and Charlton away. I’m just over the moon at going into those matches trying to achieve a play-off place. We could have been going into those games searching for points to retain our League One status. So that’s the magnitude of our success this season and it won’t be judged over the course of one game, just as Rory McIlroy won’t be judged by his loss at the Masters.
"I sensed last Saturday’s match may have been a game too far and I toyed with the idea of changing it – but the lads who played deserved the opportunity. Going into two games over the Easter weekend, I think there is a possibility that we will have to change at least four players for the Charlton game from the Carlisle match. It won’t be just down to results, it will be down to making sure we have the legs out on the field to maintain our challenge. On Saturday we just didn’t have the legs on the pitch."
There is no real team news for Rochdale tomorrow afternoon as they have no injury or suspension problems at all in their squad. As far as former Carlisle playing connections are concerned, there is only one and that is left-back Joe Widdowson. The one-time West Ham defender having spent a short spell on trial at Brunton Park in December 2007.
The referee for tomorrow's match is Steve Rushton from Stoke-on-Trent and he will be assisted down the lines by Michael Salisbury from Penwortham, near Preston and Duncan Street from Normanton in West Yorkshire. Meanwhile the fourth official is David Benton from Sheffield.