Having won our first game of the New Year, 3-1 at Bury, hopes of improving on the disappointing results in the first half of the season were high but three successive defeats since that victory at Gigg Lane have somewhat dented those ambitions.

The visit of Rochdale therefore provided another opportunity for Joey Jones' side to once again find that winning formula.

Preparations for the game were once again far from ideal - as a broken wrist sustained by Michael Jones in training the previous Friday had left the Dragons with nobody to stand between the sticks, unless of course you think of Hector Sam or Scott Green - who would both appear to fancy themselves as a guardian of our goal! On the other hand, maybe not!

So step forward Football in the Community Officer Mark Morris who, of course, made over 100 appearances for the Robins (as we were then known) between 1986 and 1994.

However, he hadn't played regular football since leaving Runcorn at the end of the 1998-1999 season, so it was certainly an interesting move by the Dragons' management staff.

Maybe after a clean sheet in this game he could provide a solution to our goalkeeping problems of late, we shall see!

Unfortunately information on this game is somewhat limited due to all your reporting staff being at the Millennium Stadium for the Wales - Hungary friendly international played the same evening.

Sorry! I suppose it's just typical that we chose a game that we'd win to miss. Never mind, at least we saw a Welsh win - and 45 seconds of Steve Roberts in a Welsh shirt!