Dale are looking to bounce back from an opening-day defeat at Newport County last weekend, in front of a home crowd in the EFL for the first time since 2023.
The gaffer spoke to BBC Radio Manchester ahead of the game, quotes from which are below.
TEAM NEWS
“We possibly have Jonny [Smith] available for the squad. He obviously hasn’t had minutes in pre-season, and we had to make sure he was right to come back into the squad, so there’s a potential he could be available for the bench. Hendo [Ian Henderson] has returned, so we have him available. But they are the only two available this week, and then hopefully the week after we might have one or two more.”
INJURIES
“It’s been really extreme. I’ve never had this at the start of the season before, where you have so many injuries to so many key players. We have to adapt; we have to find ways to win games. We’ve got a really good squad, and once we get everyone back and there’s more competition for places, I think we’ll progress and be able to offer more on the pitch. There’s no getting away from the fact that having so many injuries, as a new coach in a new league, is really tough, but the boys have been amazing. They’ve given me everything and we’ve found a way to make sure we’re ready every day in training to compete.”
STEP UP TO LEAGUE TWO
“The jump from National League to League Two is huge. The players are a lot more physical, and there’s a lot more quality. The ball kept coming into the box on Saturday, but with quality and with physical presences who can attack the ball. It’s the same with every league; the quality improves. But having experienced League Two, this is my third time now, you need the athleticism and physicality to deal with the opposition putting quality in your box and hurting you as much as they can.”
RECRUITMENT
“We’re still looking to bring a couple in. We want to add some athleticism and help the group as much as we possibly can. We want a good balance throughout of technical players and athleticism that can penetrate and run in behind, so that we have a little bit of everything to offer and base team selection on the opposition.”
CRAWLEY TOWN
“They’re a very good side. They didn’t have their strongest season last season, but the new manager came in and kept them in the league. They played their first Carabao Cup game against York and looked really good, and I actually thought they were really good on Saturday against Crewe until the sending off. They’ve got a good young coach who is looking to implement his ideas; they’re aggressive in what they do, and we need to match that. We have to believe, and we have to go into the game with the intent to win a football match.”
Listen to the interview with Watson in full on BBC Sounds, where a pre-match interview with Luke Hannant will be available from Friday morning.
