Sport

Three’s a charm: Rochdale goalkeeper Josh Lillis eyes hat-trick of wins ahead of Chesterfield promotion clash

By Josh Nicholls

Rochdale goalkeeper Josh Lillis is hoping his side can complete a hat-trick of wins this week ahead of their clash with promotion rivals Chesterfield in League Two tonight.

Saturday’s 3-0 win over Plymouth Argyle completed the first leg of this treble but Lillis is targeting two more victories first against the Spireites and then against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup next Saturday.

The 26-year-old also believes his team-mates have put the 3-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of Chesterfield in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in November, firmly behind them.

“We let ourselves down a little bit in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy especially in the first half,” Lillis told MM.

“There was also a decision where we got a goal disallowed and it changed the complexity of the game you never know what was going to happen if we’d got back in the game at that point.”

“But that’s gone now and it’s another fresh game for us and we are going to go into it with confidence and hopefully get the win.”

Dale are now second in League Two after leapfrogging Chesterfield, who were beaten 3-0 away at Southend United on Saturday.

However Dale assistant manager Chris Beech believes that setback could make Chesterfield an even tougher proposition.  

“If anything that will spur them (Chesterfield) to be more on it for Tuesday night,” Beech said after Saturday’s match.

“It’s just another football match the league is not won or lost at Chesterfield, promotion is not gained or misgiven there, it’s three points available.

“We’ll do our best against a very good team, that’s played some great football and scored some great goals in this league, they are really a team that should get promoted with finances they have got available.”

Image courtesy of Bill Boaden, with thanks

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