Gracie Fields or Lisa Stansfield. The Pioneers and one of the breeding grounds of the labour movement, or the constituency of a larger than life (and somewhat strange) Liberal MP. Bit of a contrast is Rochdale, isn’t it? No matter, they’re the visitors to Bescot tomorrow.

Walsall’s “dip in form” has seen them achieve 7 points from the last four games, which is play off form, but we still aren’t shaking off the chasing pack. That means that, to make sure of promotion, never mind winning the Championship, every home point is vital, and the failure to take all three against Boston means the pressure is on again. Ah, well, the difficulties of success.

As Richard Money has said himself, “This time of the year is all about winning and it doesn’t matter whether you are playing Rochdale or Swindon because everyone is as desperate for the points as each other for various reasons”. The Boston game certainly proved that, so there are likely to be a lot of twists and turns before this season is done.

The win at Macclesfield on Tuesday means that there is less likelihood of Money shuffling his pack for the game. Allan Picken will probably need another week or so, Martin Butler should have recovered from his “illness” on Tuesday (delicacy stops me from outlining his problems any further) and Hector Sam picked up a slight knock in the game, but was expected to be fit. That should leave Ian Roper as the only doubt, but he was also expected to be available for the game.

If that’s the case, I’d expect:

Ince, Westwood, Roper or Gerrard, Dann, Taylor or Fox, Wrack or Wright, Dobson, Pead, Keates, Butler and Sam.

Whoever out of Gerrard and Roper, Wrack and Wright or Fox and Taylor miss out, they should form the bench along with Bossu and any two from Demontagnac, Cederqvist (one of these two is the most likely), Bedeau and Lyall.

If Roper isn’t fit, that should make DD’s job a little easier.

Constable’s Move

One player who won’t be appearing, of course, is the departed James Constable. Money had this to say on that subject:-

“The deal was a very good one for the club and we have a big sell-on clause. I could have brought him back here to sit on the bench but, quite rightly, he wants to push his career forward and that means playing regularly. In the end we all felt that it was the sensible decision for him to join Kidderminster, but at the same time we had to make sure that this club was well looked after now and in the future.”

Rochdale News

Recently appointed Rochdale manager Keith Hill has had an immediate impact on the team’s fortunes, but, during the transfer window, his main priority has been to trim down what was, in certain positions, an overstocked squad,. He did, however, bring in two late signings, goalkeeper Lewis Edge on loan from Blackpool, as cover for Matt Gilks, and Charlie Comyn-Platt, a 6 foot 2 inch left footed central defender. The team that will line up against up tomorrow will be completely different from that we faced on the opening day of the season, both in attitude and in personnel.

Predictions?

Rochdale should be brimming with confidence following last weekend’s game, when they did the Saddlers a huge favour by thrashing the Franchise 5 – 0. They go into the game in 18th place, with an away record of

Played 14, Won 4, Drawn 3, Lost 7.

That is only one point worse than their home record. Their latest form is even better, however, as they have won three, drawn two and lost only one of the last six.

I would expect this to be a tight affair, but I think the three points will be coming home.