The world of football was dealt a big blow last week with the news that Keith Alexander had sadly passed away. Tributes for Keith came in from all over football and the reaction to his death in the media showed how highly respected he had been within the game. The fact that the players in the England v Egypt game wore black armbands and the minutes silences that were held up and down the country were fitting tributes to a really good man. It is an incredible blow to Keith's family and friends and our thoughts are with them at this tough time. You always knew that you had been in a game when you played a Keith Alexander side and he will be sorely missed.
Today is our game for the Football for Heroes week which raises awareness and funds for the Help for Heroes campaign which the club and the Football League backs. This season we have seen a number of military personnel at our games at the Prostar, as well as our trips around the country. I hope you can all show your appreciation for these brave men and women.
Our last two games have shown contrasting performances and contrasting results. The game against AFC Bournemouth showed our good sides but in the trip to Grimsby we showed how we can let ourselves down.
Against AFC Bournemouth we had to raise our game to take on one of the leagues more consistent sides. They are up at the top of our division, and have been all season, and showed the reason for this. Our second half performance showed what we are really about as a side and there was really only one side in it. In the end we only had the one goal to show for our work and endeavour but on another day we could have easily won the game by a larger margin
We then travelled to Grimsby and let ourselves down by not performing to the levels that we have shown recently. It was a game where if we had taken our early chances then I think it would have been a comfortable afternoon for us. We didn't do that, we let them into the game and overall they deserved to win the game. I don't think it was the worst performance that we've had this season but the goals we conceded made it look bad.
It's no use dwelling on that too much and we have to remember what has got us into the position we are, remember what made us into a decent side and what better way to get back on track that to do it against Rochdale today. We know that it will be one of the toughest tests that we will get all season.
I'd like to finish by welcoming Keith Hill and David Flitcroft to the Prostar for this afternoon's game. Rochdale have shown over the season that they are probably the best side in our division. This is down to the hard work they have put in and developed the club over the years they have been in charge at Spotland.
Enjoy the game
Paul
