The Head Coach was speaking to BBC Radio Manchester ahead of Dale’s trip to Colchester United on Saturday, with his quotes available below.
TEAM NEWS
“Jonny’s [Smith] available to get some minutes now; we had to be really cautious with building his minutes up. In terms of freshness coming into the squad, we’re not able to involve anyone this week. Loz [Laurence Maguire] had a bit of setback so that’s been tough for us to take and Dev [Devante Rodney] is still finding some difficulties with his glute and the tightness, so he’s not available. I wish I could give some more positive news on the injury front. We haven’t got any new ones coming back yet.”
CRAWLEY TOWN RESULT
“The result wasn’t the one we wanted, but I have to look at everything. There’s other metrics than the scoreboard that I have to look at and I was pleased with some of the stuff I saw on the eye. We watched the game back, we know where we need to improve. There’s always positives and negatives in every game and you have to look at everything. This is a process and we’re really in it. We’re trying everything possible to cover as much as we can and help the boys.”
APPROACHING TOUGH MOMENTS
“I think the big thing for me was that I don’t see the group not giving everything. They were devastated in the changing room after the game on Saturday, you could see it in their eyes and their body language. It’s my responsibility to pick them up, get them to keep going and make sure they don’t lose faith in what we’re trying to do. The squad have come off a lot of success last season so we have to try and get them back in that mindset and remind them that this is football and you don’t always have success, it’s very up and down. We have to stick together, make sure we remain positive, but not naive.”
KANE TAYLOR
“Kane’s technically very good. He came through at Man City and Aston Villa, which shows what they thought of him. He’s very athletic which we need, he can play a number of positions, which helps when we’re suffering with a few missing. He can run in behind, he can link play and he fits the bill perfectly.”
FURTHER RECRUITMENT
“We’re looking to add. I always feel like I’m transparent in these interviews. We’re looking to bring one, possibly two in before the window shuts. We’re working tirelessly in terms of recruitment. The days are long because we’re pushing a lot to get the right players in. The window shuts on Tuesday so it’s all hands on deck at the moment, we want to be in the strongest position possible. We’ve only got one loan spot left; you can only have five in a matchday squad. We’re spending a lot of hours looking at every player and who’s available and do they suit Rochdale as a person and a player.”
COLCHESTER UNITED
“It will be a really hard game. Colchester are very hard to play against. They’ve got a good management team who are experienced especially at the level. They’ll be hard to break down and with the ball they want to try and hurt you with balls in the box and set-pieces. We have to be aware of that and make sure we leave no stone unturned going into the game. We require an improved performance this weekend.”
You can listen to the interview with Watson in full on BBC Sounds.
