Squad out to seal place in the play-offs

ROCHDALE are well placed to secure a spot among the National League play-off contenders but Jim McNulty will be keen to seal the deal today when his side entertain Hartlepool.

- RICHARD PARTINGTON

Dale are four points clear of eighth-placed Southend United while Altrincham in ninth could still mathematically catch them.

Dale travel to Solihull on Tuesday for the final game of the regular season and McNulty wants to nail down that play-off finish before then.

And he’s hoping to see a ramped up atmosphere this afternoon after an understandably muted Easter Monday given the raw news of Joe Thompson's passing.

“We'll need everyone, we need the fans,” he said.

“Monday was a quiet day but I kind of expected it to be because other than there being songs about Joe it was probably hard to find the energy to create the atmosphere that Joe probably would have wanted actually. But I fully expect that to return on Saturday against Hartlepool and we'll need it because Hartlepool have got clout, they're an EFL squad.

“They are big hitters in this division in terms of how they build their squad and financially what they're willing to give to it.