Taking a team from a higher division back to your ground for an Emirates FA Cup replay on a sandy, bobbly and unpredictable pitch ought to be a leveller in your favour. Unless, that is, you are Rochdale, whose manager, Keith Hill, believes that they will be at a disadvantage when Millwall travel to Greater Manchester next week.
After watching his side pass their way around and through their Sky Bet Championship opponents at The Den, Hill was adamant that the Crown Oil Arena playing surface will hurt Dale in the replay.
“Yes, definitely,” he said. “If you come to the replay, you’ll see why. It’s difficult playing on our pitch. We’ve been doing a lot of work on it, but it’s not been as successful as we expected.”
Think of Derby County’s Baseball Ground in the mid-1970s and you won’t be far off the pitch that has hampered Rochdale’s passing style this season and has them 11 points adrift of safety in League One.
When Ian Henderson, the Rochdale striker, who scored his side’s 32nd-minute equaliser after Jed Wallace had put Millwall in front from the penalty spot, was asked how much of a treat it had been playing on a decent pitch, he just laughed. “It was like, ‘Wow, this is what a pitch is like,’ ” he said. “It’s always nice to play on a good surface and we are a technical side with a resolute attitude.”
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As befits his no-frills club, the plain-speaking Hill was equally forthright when it came to divulging the secret of his side’s cup form, which stands in complete contrast to a dismal league campaign. “Cash,” was his initial one-word answer, before expanding: “The prize money allows me a little bit of flexibility with the squad rather than having to sell players. It’s definitely a motive. It’s a way we can earn extra revenue.”
Rochdale would have already secured the guaranteed fifth-round prize money of £90,000 had it not been for Ben Thompson’s 90th-minute equaliser for Millwall, which cancelled out Matt Done’s second-half tap-in.
The midfielder is keener than most at The Den that Millwall succeed in luring Tim Cahill back to the club where he first gained prominence in English football. Done said: “I’m a Millwall fan and he was my favourite player growing up, my boyhood hero.”
Ratings
Millwall (4-4-2): D Martin 7 — M Romeo 5, J Shackell 6 (sub: S Morison 59min, 8), J Cooper 6, T Craig 6 — J Wallace 6, B Thompson 7, R Tunnicliffe 6 (sub: S Williams 85, 6), S Ferguson 6 — F Onyedinma 8 (sub: L Gregory 85, 6), T Elliott 5. Substitutes not used J Archer, C McLaughlin, J Meredith, G Saville.
Rochdale (5-3-2) J Lillis 7 — J Rafferty 7, D Daniels 6, J McNulty 8, R Delaney 8, M Done 7 — A Cannon 9 (sub: O Rathbone 81, 6), C Camps 7 (sub: D Adshead 50, 6), M Kitching 8 — C Andrew 6, I Henderson 7. Substitutes not used B Moore, K Ntlhe, H McGahey, J Thompson, B Inman. Booked Camps, Andrew.