RochdaleAFC.com preview tomorrow's Coca-Cola League Two clash with relegation battlers AFC Bournemouth.
Rochdale welcome Bournemouth this Saturday, as Jimmy Quinn’s side look to build on their unbeaten run of form, which has seen them avoid defeat on the last five occasions.
Bournemouth’s last defeat came against Accrington who convincingly beat them 3-0 with three first half goals thanks to Paul Mullin, Terry Gornell and Rostyn Griffiths respectively.
If you look beyond Bournemouth’s defeat to Accrington you will see they’ve endured inconsistent form both home and away, losing to the likes of Shrewsbury (4-1) and Accrington (3-0), but beating the likes of Bradford (3-1) and Milton Keynes (1-0) all on the road.
Last week’s 1-0 home win against Chester saw Bournemouth finally pass the zero points mark and they are now only 7 points behind this season’s surprise strugglers, Grimsby Town.
And to say Jimmy Quinn’s side are supposed to be struggling financially at the moment, they don’t half have an impressive side with the likes of Ryan Garry, Alan Connell, Craig Lindfield, Lee Bradbury, Michael Symes and Matt Tubbs all on Bournemouth’s books!
Moving onto the Rochdale side of things, we have not lost a League match since the 2-0 defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge on the 4th of October and have scored fifteen goals in the last five run outs at Spotland.
Groundsman Phil Collinson has shocked the majority of Dale supporters already by having the pitch in a suitable condition to pass the first inspection which was earlier today.
He definitely deserves a pint for his efforts!
We can only hope that enough supporters help out tomorrow morning at 9 am to help give the game the best possible chance of going ahead.
There is also an opportunity to have ITV’s Glory Hunter stay with the Dale for a while if we win on Saturday.
He has been with Bournemouth since they beat Darlington and there should be a feature on us, like there was previous to the Grimsby match, online on the rubbish ITV website at some point.
Team news:
Rochdale AFC: New signing Lee McEvilly is available to make his debut on Saturday, if Keith Hill decides to change his strikers round for tomorrow’s game.
Fellow striker Chris Dagnall could also be back in the first team if needed although I can’t see him being rushed into the starting eleven with the likes of Shaw, Evil, Thorpe and Le Fondre all available.
At the back it is likely that Marcus Holness will replace the suspended Rory McArdle, with Simon Ramsden continuing at right back due to the continued absence of the injured Scott Wiseman.
There is still some doubt as to whether or not Gary Jones will be fit enough to return to midfield, but going off the Manager’s comments on the Official Site, it seems like Jones will be back in the team sooner rather than later.
AFC Bournemouth: Bournemouth were handed a boost this week when striker Alan Connell came through the first half of Bournemouth’s 2-2 draw with Plymouth Argyle’s reserves.
Midfielder Sammy Igoe is available for selection on Saturday and there also seems to be quite a fuss being made over teenage winger Carl Preston, who despite only being 17, has been promoted to the first team and is available for selection on Saturday.
One player who won’t be featuring at Spotland is Darren Anderton, who retired after scoring the winner for Bournemouth last week.
The BBC have also reported that Scott Guyett, Ryan Garry and Jason Pearce are all looking to recover from a virus in time for tomorrow’s game.
So its fingers crossed for now, and if the pitch does pass the scheduled inspection at 10 am, then we should have a decent game on our hands!