Hill lauds loan signings as Dale climb out of relegation zone

Posted Sunday, February 03, 2019 by PA

Rochdale boss Keith Hill hailed the Premier League quality he has brought in during the January transfer window after his side climbed out of the League One drop zone with a 2-1 win at Walsall.

Both goals came from top-flight loanees, Manchester United midfielder Ethan Hamilton netting the winner after Joe Edwards’ solo goal cancelled out Wolves defender Ethan Ebanks-Landell’s opener.

And despite selling the likes of Joe Rafferty, Andrew Cannon and Harrison McGahey last month, Hill believes his side is now better equipped to survive after they ended a six-game winless run.

He said: “It gives your players a lift when other players come in that are of the calibre of both Ethans. There are a few mutters under the breath of ‘wow, he’s a good player’.

“I believe they’ve made us stronger. There was a lot of negativity towards us selling the players that we have sold.

“But I believe that we’ve improved our squad and improved our opportunities to stay in League One with the recruitment of these players.

“I’m really pleased with the impact they have made but also psychologically on the other players we already had at the club.”

Rochdale stayed up on the last day of last season and Hill says the drop zone holds no fears.

He added: “It’s brilliant for the lads to remind themselves what it feels like to have a winning week.

“But I don’t panic about being in the bottom four. I’m pleased with the response from the players and the fact that they are quite calm.

“We dealt with it really well last season and we are trying to do that again.”

Walsall, meanwhile, slipped to 17th and face big home games against fellow strugglers AFC Wimbledon and Bradford in February.

Cameron Morgan’s injury-time header almost rescued a point but Walsall boss Dean Keates admitted: “In possession we weren’t good enough.

“We didn’t make enough passes and ended up going a little bit too direct.

“When we did make passes in the last 10-15 minutes, we created some opportunities and the fine margins of football are not going our way.

“They got a lot of blocks in and their one opportunity in the second half goes through two pairs of legs into the bottom corner.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, no one is going to do you any favours, you have to look after yourselves. We’ve got 16 games left – and 16 massive games.

“It’s massive period coming up, there’s no denying it, no smokescreen.

“All that we can do is stay united, we have competition for places now so there will be changes if players are not performing. If they don’t seem up to the battle, they will find themselves out of the team.”