Rock-bottom Rochdale were ‘naive’ at Grimsby

Jim Bentley admits rock-bottom Rochdale displayed naivety during their 1-0 defeat against Grimsby at Blundell Park.

On-loan Grimsby striker George Lloyd settled the contest with a moment of quality midway through the second half with his third goal in nine games.

It was enough to move Grimsby up to 16th in League Two as Rochdale remained at the foot and five points from safety.

Dale boss Bentley said: “One of their strengths is they get the ball forward and ask question after question, and Lloyd is good at running in behind.

“We dealt with that, but haven’t dealt with one moment in the game.

“We made them aware – ‘Lloyd in behind, Lloyd in behind’. But the one time nobody has checked his run, it was too easy for him to go through.

“From that moment there was a lot of huff and puff. But if you give them a leg up, then it’s a carnival atmosphere.

“It allows them to turn to the dark arts and run the clock down.

“We have fallen into the trap so many times (this season) and were so naive as we don’t need to get involved in situations.”

Grimsby coach Ben Davies, who deputised for manager Paul Hurst during the press conference, said: “It took a long time coming the goal.

“I thought again in the first half we were a little bit flat.

“We looked a little bit leggy, but we upped things in the second half.

“It was a tactical change from us at half-time and we wanted to get Lloyd in behind that little bit more off Tayls (Ryan Taylor).

“I thought the subs who came on really made an impact on the game, the lads who came off the bench gave us a lift when we needed it, and it was a great finish.”