It's Paul Simpson's Shrewsbury Town who entertain us at Spotland tomorrow and and we have a full preview online now.

It’s hard to believe that the season usual schedule of 46 fixtures is up tomorrow.

And what a season it has been, with the many high points far outweighing the lows, it truly has been a superb time to support Rochdale AFC recently. 

Imagine if someone would have asked you, what would you do if Rochdale were to be confirmed as a play off team with games to spare? You’d take it any day of the week, in fact, you’d take just sneaking in the play offs on the final day of the season.

 However, we secured our play off place the easy way, and as the manager has already said, tomorrow is the time to celebrate such an achievement. We head into the game on the back of an outstanding run of form at Spotland recently.

Accrington, Rotherham, Bradford, Grimsby, Notts County, Barnet and Morecambe are the seven opponents Dale have beaten in our last seven matches at Spotland.  

Would anyone have guessed that we’d be unbeaten at home for two months at the end of the season after the defeats we suffered in February? I doubt it. 

Tomorrow will be also interesting as we see some of the younger lads have their taste of first team action. With the one YTS player who has impressed the most this season, Will Buckley, set to make his second start tomorrow. 

We can also expect some of the squad players getting some playing time under their belts tomorrow, which doesn’t mean we’ll be any weaker when we face Shrewsbury.

With Keith Hill recently stating how he wishes he could give some of his squad more games as they all deserve to play this season. One first team player that will definitely be featuring tomorrow is Gary Jones.

The captain is set to equal another record for Rochdale, this time the most League appearances, and that’s another reason why supporters should be celebrating tomorrow. 

As for players who won’t be featuring, there’s the two who will be missing out in the play offs, Lee Thorpe and Sam Russell, as well as James Spencer who isn’t expected to be back to full fitness until around when the play offs start.

Defender Nathan Stanton also misses out due to suspension after being dismissed in last weekend’s derby for bringing down Elliot Bennett. 

As for our opposition, I’m sure most of you are aware, especially with it being stated in the opening paragraph, that ex player/manager Paul Simpson will be making his return to Spotland tomorrow. 

Simpson, who has not enjoyed the best of times since taking up the reigns at the New Meadow, has recently wielded the axe, with Luke Jones, Colin Murdoch, Jimmy Ryan, Martin Riley, Michael Barnes and Tom Moss all being told to find another club. 

Barnes and Riley were both signed by Simpson when he took over at Shrewsbury, but perhaps Shrewsbury’s run of 9 games, 1 win, 4 draws, 4 defeats has been part to do with his team, which is why he’s let them go.

Although with form like that, it’s becoming the norm in League Two for managers two get two year contracts, especially with the clubs local to Shrewsbury.  

Two players that stand out in Simpson’s release list are Michael Barnes and Jimmy Ryan. Barnes was on loan from Manchester United, and the winger is out of contract in the summer so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him around League Two again next season.  

The biggest surprise however, is the release of ex Liverpool youngster Jimmy Ryan. Ryan, who is a Republic of Ireland youth international, was highly rated by ex Shrewsbury manager Gary Peters. Peters signed him, first on loan, until January, with Peters always saying how Ryan was one for the future, and no matter how talented he was that he wouldn’t rush him into the first team.

So perhaps Ryan could be a player that’s in demand this summer, unless Simpson knows something that Peters didn’t. 

Getting back to what actually matters, with the players that still play at Shrewsbury, at least Simpson only has one injury problem to compensate for tomorrow, with defender Kelvin Langmead being unavailable for selection.

So let's all enjoy tomorrow's game and look forward to the play offs.

Up the Dale.

Photo: Action Images

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