Preview: Bradford City v Rochdale

What a difference a game makes. This time last week, we had questions galore: is Shaw a pub player, why is Dagnall so out of form, why haven't we replaced Perkins, what's gone wrong with Higgy...... Then one blitz of Barnet later, and there's Sunshine over Spotland once again, and the world became a happier place.

It's happened before and it'll happen again, but that first win of the season carries a sort of pressure which had been hanging over our shoulders since May, and it's vital to get win under the belt so we can all let out a collective sigh of relief and rightly start seeing the glass as being almost overflowing rather than half empty.

You can always gauge when morale is high, as the only time people fall out on the messageboard is over the worthiness of tomatoes and degrees, whilst debating the reasons behind the Rochdale climate. Couldn't make it up, and it's the closest we come at Dale to a pat on the back.

This weekend's game is very winnable. We'll go there probably unchanged again, with the only possible alteration would be Toner coming in for Higginbotham if Hill sees this as a game we need to be less gung-ho in. But with that in mind, heading into games with a less attacking stance has never worked for us under Hill, with the best results being where we get the opposition on the back foot.

When you start looking at Bradford, it would appear that this weekend's game is nothing but a warm up for their much more prestigious Johnstone's Paints Trophy game taking place during the week at Elland Road. Everywhere you look, it would appear the focus is fully on their forthcoming derby game, and whilst you get the odd person coming out paying lip service to Saturday's game, it's clear that all minds are on the Leeds game. You can only hope for their sake it goes better than their last Cup derby encounter.

Huddersfield result aside, it's been a very good start to the season for the Bantams and it looks like one in which they won't repeat the mistakes they suffered last season. Victories over the likes of Notts County and Macclesfield might not be the sort of thing to get the bookies paying out early, it's these bread and butter wins (with no disrespect to Macclesfield) on which promotion bids are made. City are already five points ahead of where they were last season.

There's been big investment in the City squad this season, and unlike with Peterborough last season, that investment has been self financed thanks to the outstanding crowds that City have enjoyed since their drop into Division Four. They came about thanks to the fantastic initiative by the City board to sell season tickets which worked out at £6 per match and whilst their overall league position may have continued to drop, their crowds bucked that trend. We cannot praise this highly enough, even tho it sees us pay £20 to watch the game this weekend.

McCall has chosen well with his his signings this Summer. The signing of Boulding will be the one who captures most people's eyes, as it will be when you go out and sign one of the top scorers in the division, but it was the capture of Paul McLaren from Tranmere which stood out for me.

He was a player of real quality with Tranmere last season, and the only question mark for me is why is he playing at this level rather than the one above which he most certainly could do. I'm sure Bradford fans will cite big club, super stadium, huge crowds ad nauseum, but we all know that they are only reasons for a player's first interview after signing. But who cares about his reasons as he continues to produce the goods and pull the strings for a side which showed in glimpses last year that there was quality to be taken advantage of.

It'll be a tough un for Dale this weekend, but history shows that away games such as this are often happy hunting grounds for us. I remember Leyton Orient making a big deal of having a 100% record a couple of seasons ago till little old Rochdale stepped into town.

Could the same happen this weekend? Well with their minds elsewhere, and the quality of our side, we've got every chance. We won't be able to get away with the little old Rochdale card again, not having beaten the Bantams twice last season. They know we're not the Rochdale of the open top toilet days, and the days of us being plucky underdogs have long since gone.

We'll head to Bradford with the home side very much aware of who are problem players will be, and when you read of opposition supporters saying that they'd take a draw against us, it's a massive compliment to everything that's happened at Dale over the past couple of seasons.

But let's not kid ourselves that this will be one big love in, where we'll have ninety minutes of mutual backslapping. It's Lancashire v Yorkshire, and with City fast becoming the new Halifax and it's the closest that the Bantams will get to a derby game this season in the League. It's a match where the result could prove to be the difference in May, but it's a game in Yorkshire, and you all know our record of playing matches in the County which won the Silver Medal in the War of the Roses....