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Dale seek a capital return

Daniel Willers
29/ 3/2008

DALE travel to Brentford today knowing that a victory over the London-based club could see them overtake Chesterfield in seventh place.

For that to happen, of course, The Spireites would have to go down to Dagenham and Redbridge today.

After Monday’s 4-1 win over Rotherham, at Spotland, Keith Hill’s men have it all to play for in the run-in to the season.

Dale, currently on 59 points, still have three games in hand on most teams in contention for a play-off finish, including Brentford who lie in 10th place in League Two on 55 points.

Dale visit Griffin Park with virtually a full strength squad to choose from, and more, after late loan signings

No decision had been made when the Observer went to press about Chris Dagnall making the starting line-up, despite his three-goal haul against Rotherham.

If Dagnall doesn’t start it could mean Lee Thorpe featuring against his former team-mates.

Kallum Higginbotham is also fit and available for selection again after a short spell on the sidelines.

This has boosted Dale’s attacking options no end and will have given boss Hill something of a selection headache.

Brentford enter the game with renewed confidence following back-to-back wins over Grimsby and Wrexham.

They will see today’s contest as an opportunity to gain points on Dale and close the gap between themselves and Chesterfield.

The Bees will be missing striker Ross Montague who is out with a back problem, but centre-half Matt Heywood could make a return to the starting line-up after making a swift recovery from a rib injury.

The last time Dale faced Brentford was at Spotland back in October, a game that ended in a 1-1 draw.

With both teams in the running for the play-offs neither will want anything less than all three points this time round.

Hill’s troops will barely have chance to catch their breath before they face Bradford City, who are also chasing a play-off spot, in a rearranged match at Spotland on Tuesday.

That, like every fixture from now until the end of the season, is a must-win game for Dale.

A last-minute winner from Adam Le Fondre was all that separated the sides when they met at the Coral Windows Stadium last month, with Dale taking the spoils from a 2-1 victory.

Bradford stand in 13th place in League Two, on 51 points, and are nine points adrift of Chesterfield with two games in hand.

Defeat by Dale would seriously dent their hopes of a late surge for a top seven finish.