It was a disappointing afternoon in North Wales as Dale were deservedly beaten 3-2 by Conference side Wrexham.
Teams and changes were as follows:
Duke, Darby (Trotman), Twaddle (Widdowson), Holness (Fagbola), Doig, Jarrett (Tutte), Jones (Gray), Marshall (Kennedy), Hackney (Akpa Akpro), Adams (Minihan), Grimes.
Despite going 2-0 down early in the game, Dale recovered to go in at the break 2-2 thanks to goals from Grimes and Jarrett. However, Wrexham grabbed the winner early in the second half.
Few points from today:
*Wrexham's ground is a much nicer ground than I ever remember it being. Perhaps given that we were at the side made a difference, rather than stuck behind the goal trying to watch the game from around the geet big colour scoreboard staring out an the archaic terrace opposite.
* Nobody wants to be negative in preseason, but whilst we never had what anyone would consider to be a full strength side out at any point during the game, it's not often you come away from a game struggling to think of a single positive.
* Dale's best spell came in the ten minutes leading up to half time. We seemed to outnumber Wrexham in attack three or four times, and whilst we grabbed one goal during this time, we could have even gone in at the break with what would have been an undeserved lead, and I remember thinking that if this to be the pattern of play for the remainder of the game then scoring five or six could have been on the cards. However, that brief spell of dominance ended when Jarrett's header went in on the stroke of half time.
* Playing devil's advocate, it's worth remembering that the 4-3-3 formation that proved so successful last season took a while to kick in, and there were times when supporters questioned its merits especially in the latter stages of 2009-10. That said, the 4-2-3-1 formation (I think) we are using looks alien to us, and whilst there are spells of nice tippy tappy football, if it doesn't work against a Conference side, then it's hardly likely to in League One. Worringly at this stage, the players looked equally uncomfortable and unconvinced by it.
* Goalkeeper Matt Duke did little to convince the manager that he was worthy of a contract. Wrexham's first goal came courtesy of his mistake, and his blushes were spared when he spilled a shot and the rebound was ruled out for offside. He perhaps wasn't always helped by his defence, but he won't win a contract with Dale based on this performance alone.
* Jason Jarrett was perhaps one positive from the game. He showed an aerial ability with his header which levelled things at half time, and he looks assured playing this role in front of the back four. He looked increasingly mobile too. Certainly a plus point from the afternoon.
* Striker Ashley Grimes has something of a temper about him. I don't know whether he suffered at the hands of the Wrexham players more than anyone else in our side, but one three separate occasions, he kicked out at Wrexham players. Once could be understandable. It took the shine off his fine response to a long range Jonah shot in which he fired off the rebound.
* If we're looking for further positives, then I'd argue that the club will fight to keep Chris O'Grady at the club that bit more than they would have done before hand. Missing the game through the heel injury which forced him off on Tuesday, his absence leaves a huge hole in the Dale side, and he's certainly not the sort of player who can be replaced with just a few days notice.
* So apologies for the negativity above. Nothing is ever decided in pre-season, and there's a strong argument that with players in on trial, Steve Eyre will have learned more about his squad than a nice and pretty 4-0 victory would have done.