After Athletic’s final pre-season game at Rochdale, manager Brian Talbot summed up the performance by saying, “I think these games are always difficult. It's pre-season and a week before the season starts. As it's a local derby and players don't want to get injured, I think overall it was okay but we can do better, well I hope we can. We got two late strikes and I think we had the best chances in the game to be fair. We had two or three good chances first half with JJ (pictured), Will Haining and Chris Killen, but we won the game late and I think Rochdale will be a little bit disappointed to have come off 3-0 losers. Again the fans were excellent for us and it's nice to give them a win and we've kept another clean sheet which is important.”Talbot post Rochdale
After Athletic’s final pre-season game at Rochdale, manager Brian Talbot summed up the performance by saying, “I think these games are always difficult. It's pre-season and a week before the season starts. As it's a local derby and players don't want to get injured, I think overall it was okay but we can do better, well I hope we can. We got two late strikes and I think we had the best chances in the game to be fair. We had two or three good chances first half with JJ (pictured), Will Haining and Chris Killen, but we won the game late and I think Rochdale will be a little bit disappointed to have come off 3-0 losers. Again the fans were excellent for us and it's nice to give them a win and we've kept another clean sheet which is important.”“Jermain Johnson had two very good finishes for all the intricate play in the 90 minutes. We scored from a set piece which was definitely a foul and Bonner knocked two balls over the top, down the middle and JJ got on the end of them and finished superbly. You've got to say well played to the lads as no game is easy. It's now about getting ready for Luton.”