New manager syndrome will make things tough
Jim Bentley believes his side will also have to be wary of “new manager syndrome”, when they meet Rochdale at the Globe Arena on Saturday.
Keith Hill is only a month into his Spotland return but has won just one game so far but according to Bentley that will make the game all the more difficult.
Bentley said: “Rochdale have got a new manager in Keith Hill who’s an ex-player here.
“He’s made some good signings, they’re a good side and we expect another difficult game.
“Any side that comes here it’s tough, the league suggests that because it’s so tight.
“And with new manager syndrome, a couple of new signings and Bobby Grant, a massive player for them, returning from a four-game suspension, it’ll be a very tough match.”
Bentley's eyes are firmly set on simply improving on last season’s 15th-placed finish.
He said: “It’ll be a big ask but I think a couple of years ago we won something like our last six games to sneak into the play-offs so it can happen with it being so tight.
“But there’s a lot of good sides around us and teams like Bradford are concentrating on the league again and I’d expect them to kick on with games in hand.
“We will have to go on a very good run to get into the play-offs and likewise will have to go on a very poor run to get sucked back down.
“We want to finish as high up the league as we can and our first target is 50 points and we’re four points away from that.
“Then we want to beat last season’s mark and finish higher than we did, so we’ll be giving it our best shot in every game.”
Andy Wright returns from suspension for the game against The Dale with Andy Parrish set to miss the next two weeks with a thigh injury picked up in the draw with Bristol Rovers.